My Little Pony: Good vs Evil
by CJ Ambrose
Summary: What happens when Twilight and her friends go up against their evil counterparts, and also end up in our world? You'll have to read and find out... Takes place after season 6, sequel to "A Race Against Time", and featuring Stardust Balance from "A Journey Beyond Sanity". Rated T for minor language and some suggestive content. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

Chapter 1 - Starting the Fire

 _Author's Note - "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _Prologue_

It had been several months since Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Mane Six, as well as Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer, had an encounter with a dark and sinister Pegasus pony named Rowan.

They had also come across a kind Earth pony named Casey, who ended up becoming very close to Twilight, despite losing his parents to her devastating battle with Tirek.

However, the adventure didn't stop there...

Thanks to Rowan, they had ended up discovering a parallel version of their world from another dimension, as well as being introduced to Stardust Balance, a human-turned-pony that represented the balance between chaos and harmony.

After a devastating battle that resulted in the death of Stardust, Pinkie Pie used a magical staff to send Rowan elsewhere, while the version of Twilight that came from Stardust's world went back in time in order to save her beloved somepony.

Then, although Stardust had obvious issues with her, Princess Celestia and the spirit of Starswirl the Bearded made it so that the Crystal Mirror in both worlds could be used as a gateway between the two, while blocking off any other possible passages to prevent anypony else from bringing harm to either world.

 _Unfortunately,_ Princess Celestia forgot to check one particular gateway that had been unlocked during Rowan's world-traveling rampage, and because of that, their worlds were in even greater danger than they had ever been in before...

... and that brings us to today, inside the library of Twilight's castle, where the young princess was having a discussion with her talented pupil.

* * *

"So... you _still_ don't remember why you used a memory spell on yourself?" asked Twilight.

"No, I don't," replied Starlight, who _had_ performed the spell in order to forget about certain horrifying events that she'd witnessed at the world where (thanks to Pinkie Pie) Rowan had met his well-deserved demise.

She then looked around the room, and asked, "Is Casey still asleep? I thought he'd be up by now..."

"Oh, no, he's awake," replied Twilight, and she nodded her head over at the Crystal Mirror. "Today is when he gets a chance to visit Stardust's world."

Starlight frowned, confused, and asked, "Why wouldn't Stardust just come here?"

"They're pretty much taking turns at this point," shrugged Twilight, and the two ponies shared a laugh.

* * *

 _(Stardust's World)_

Inside of the Throne Room, Twilight was silently reading a book to herself, but her concentration was broken when Applejack entered the room. "Howdy, Twilight! What you readin' over there?"

"Oh, hi, AJ," said the young alicorn, setting the book down beside her. "Just trying to learn what I can about time travel."

Applejack chuckled, and asked, "I'm guessin' this would have to do with yours and Star's _world traveling_ adventure that happened a few weeks ago?"

Twilight was about to answer when her friend added, " _And_ why every once in a while, he keeps on pokin' my hat and my chest to make sure I ain't some kind of spirit?"

The alicorn princess found herself giggling, and said, "I'm sorry about that, Applejack, but... you don't know how it felt for him to see you transformed into an apple, then get smashed by a giant mallet."

"Well, not that I don't mind him showin' his concern, sugarcube," replied Applejack, who went to sit in her own special throne. "But I want to make sure that he knows for sure that I won't be goin' anywhere anytime soo... uh... where is he, anyway?"

She and Twilight looked over at Stardust's unoccupied throne, and the Princess of Friendship said, "I think he mentioned to me about him going to have his weekly visit over at Casey's world... I'm sure he's teaching him something important."

* * *

 _(Limbo)_

 **[Background Music: "Escape from the City - Cash Cash Remix (Classic)" from Sonic Generations]**

 _Whoo!_

 _Oh yeah!_

Stardust was currently racing down the highway on his Extreme Gear hoverboard, and enjoying every minute of it.

 _Rolling around at the speed of sound,_

 _Got places to go, gotta follow my rainbow._

 _Can't stick around, have to keep moving on,_

 _Guess what lies ahead, only one way to find out!_

 _"You hanging in back there, Casey?"_

Stardust turned back to look at his new friend, who was slowly getting used to controlling his own board.

"Maybe it would be easier if we didn't have what you called a _bigass truck_ chasing after us!"

The gold pony let out a laugh, and he said, "Hey, trust me, buddy, once the song's over, that truck will be _gone_!"

As Casey did a back flip after flying off a ramp, much to his own surprise, he yelled, " _What song are you talking about?_ "

 _Must keep on moving ahead,_

 _No time for guessing, follow my plan instead._

 _Trusting in what you can't see,_

 _Take my lead I'll set you free._

 _Follow me, set me free,_

 _Trust me and we will escape from the city._

 _I'll make it through._

 _Follow me (Follow me), set me free,_

 _Trust me and we will escape from the city._

 _I'll make it through, prove it to you._

 _Follow me!_

 _Oh yeah!_

Then, Stardust flipped himself into the sky, doing various air tricks and flips, and once he started to sing his own song, the truck disappeared, much to Casey's relief.

 _Gold streak_

 _Speeds by_

 _That is me_

 _Too fast_

 _For the naked eye_

 _That is still me_

 _Stardust_

 _He can really move!_

 _Stardust_

 _He's got an attitude!_

 _Stardust_

 _He's the-_

All of a sudden, everything disappeared, and Stardust was simply hovering in the air. "Oh, [BEEP]..."

 _Whoosh!_

 _Boom!_

The young pony fell to the soft yet somewhat itchy grass-covered ground, and muttered, "Thanks, Starswirl."

 _Of course, Jack._

"You okay there, Star?" Casey asked, as he made his way over to Stardust, helping him up to all fours. "I thought you were the one controlling everything here."

" _He used to, Casey..._ "

The two ponies looked up, and found themselves being glared at by Princess Twilight (from Stardust's world), who had a frown on her face, as well as a raised eyebrow.

"Hello, there, love," said Stardust, letting out a chuckle. "Um, how did you know I was here?"

 _"Hiya, Stardust,"_ exclaimed Pinkie Pie, the one from Stardust's world, and the gold pony rolled his eyes.

"I should have known..."

Princess Twilight sighed, and she said, "I don't mind you coming here, Jack, but next time, can you tell me that you're _here_ instead of _Casey's_ world?"

Stardust nodded his head, while Casey slowly waved one of his front hooves at her. "Hello again, Princess Twilight... how have you been?"

The young alicorn smiled, and she said, "I've been good, Casey... how's my other self doing?"

"Oh, fine, fine," replied the orange-yellow pony. "We just went on our third date a few weeks ago..."

"Well, good, I'm happy for you both," said Princess Twilight, and she looked back at her special somepony. "Don't be gone _too_ long, okay?"

"Of course, love," assured Stardust, and watched as his girlfriend walked through the Crystal Mirror, going back to her castle.

"See ya later, Star!" Pinkie Pie yelled, and she ran into the portal, as well, leaving the two ponies alone together.

"So what now?" Casey asked, and a wide smile appeared on Stardust's face.

"I have a pretty good idea..."

* * *

 _Several Hours Later_

As Stardust stepped out of the mirror, the young pony said, "Alright, Starswirl, remind me to bring _all_ of my OCs to life the next time I step into that world."

 _I will keep that in mind._

Stardust chuckled, and he started to walk out of the library when he heard a strange noise.

"That sounded like... sparks of electricity."

He turned around, and saw that the Crystal Mirror _was,_ indeed, sending out tiny little sparks of burning electricity.

"Uh, is that _supposed_ to be happening, Starswirl?"

 _I don't think so... but then again, this is a first for me, as it is for you._

The young human-turned-pony cautiously walked towards the mirror, and the sparks continued to grow, with one of them almost scorching his name.

"Gah, [BEEP]," exclaimed Stardust, stepping back a few feet. "Okay, what the _hell_ is happe-"

 _Boom!_

Twilight, Spike, and Starlight were currently working on dinner when they heard the muffled sound of an explosion.

"Um, what was that, Twilight?" Starlight asked, with the alicorn princess giving her a shrug.

"I'm not quite sure, Starlight."

As for Spike, his nose started to twitch, and he said, "I'm smelling... smoke... hey, where is Stardust at?"

"He's in the..." began Twilight, but then, her eyes went wide, and she exclaimed, " _Oh, no, the library! Jack!_ "

The alicorn princess took off running, with Starlight and Spike going after her, and once they had reached the library doors, Twilight pushed them open, releasing the smoke that had been gathering up inside.

" _Jack_... are... are you... okay, Jack?" asked Twilight, coughing as she tried to wave the smoke away.

" _Uh-huh,_ " mumbled Stardust, who was nearly buried under a pile of fallen books.

The three of his friends ran over to him, quickly getting the books off of his body, and after moving the last book away, Twilight found herself looking at a dizzy and eye-spinning Stardust.

"Jack, how many hooves do you see?"

Twilight held up one of her hoofs, and the dizzy Stardust said, "Ummm... _eight_?"

Spike chuckled, and he looked up at Twilight. "Oh, yeah, he's totally fine."

The young alicorn rolled her eyes, and said, "I think I can help him feel better... Jack?"

"Yes, love?" Stardust answered, even though he was looking at the bookshelves instead of Twilight, and she gently turned his head to the side so that he was looking her now.

Then, she gave him a kiss on the muzzle, which made Spike roll his eyes, and say, "Don't make me sick already, Twilight, when I haven't even _ate_ anything yet."

"Well, no one forced you to look," replied Stardust, who brought a hoof to his forehead. "[BEEP], I have a bad headache..."

Starlight looked around the room, noticing that most of the smoke had gone away, and she asked, "What _happened_ in here?"

Pointing at the Crystal Mirror, Stardust said, "It was _that_ [BEEP] thing... after I came back from limbo, I saw it starting to send out bolts of electricity, and... _uggghhh..._ would either of you know about a spell or something on how to get rid of a headache?"

"Um, I think I do," replied Starlight, and Stardust nodded his head. "But we have to go up to my room since the book that the spell it's in is up there."

"Thank you, Star... _aaaaghhh_..." Stardust looked back at Twilight. "Remind me, love, to never be so close to an explosion like this again... it was like being next to a firecracker before it exploded."

Spike and Twilight looked at each other, and the little dragon asked, "Uh, is that a _bad thing_ in your world or something?"

"As long as I don't lose my hearing, Spike," replied Stardust, shaking his head a few times as he followed Starlight to her bedroom, leaving Spike to look back at Twilight.

"Maybe you kissed him a little _too much_?"

Twilight sighed, and she replied, " _No_ , Spike, he probably just ended up spending a little too much time in limbo."

As she walked over to the Crystal Mirror time travel machine, Spike tilted his head to the side. "So... that's a bad thing?"

"Possibly, since technically, _we're_ only supposed to be going to Casey's world, and Sunset's world," replied Twilight, who was starting a thorough inspection of the machine to make sure everything was in place.

"I think I'll talk to Jack more about it once Starlight helps him out."

Spike nodded his head, understanding what she was saying to him, but for some reason, he felt like something was out of place.


	2. Strange Things, Part 1

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

Chapter 2 - Strange Things, Part 1

 _Author's Note - "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _(Anti-Equestria)_

Midnight Sparkle was currently pacing back and forth, waiting for an update from her loved one to see if the start to his plan had been successful.

" _Hey! What's taking him so long?"_

Midnight turned around to see an irritated Anti-Rainbow, who exclaimed, "I thought he was supposed to be done with this dumb [BEEP] already... and I'm tired of waiting at my home to-"

" _Ugh_ , will you at least _try_ to have _some_ type of patience for him, Rainbow _Dash_ ," interrupted Midnight, with the dark-blue colored Pegasus now gritting her teeth in frustration.

"It's _Crash_ , you [BEEP]-in egghead," growled Anti-Rainbow, but then, her muzzle became a mischievous grin. "Or should I call you _Twilight_?"

It was now Midnight's turn to be frustrated. "I told you never to _call me that_!"

"Oh, yeah?" challenged Anti-Rainbow. "What are _you_ gonna do about it, _Twilight_ , now that your _boyfriend_ isn't here, holding your damn leash?"

The black-and-purple pony's eyes started glowing with rage, and Anti-Rainbow began laughing with glee. "Yeah, that's it, come on, _Twilight_ , show me what you got... come on... _come on_!"

" _Will the BOTH of you STOP acting like that?!"_

Midnight and Anti-Rainbow both turned around to see a portal that showed Anti-Stardust, who was currently in some type of dark location, and he didn't look exactly pleased. "It's a miracle I call one of you my closest friend, and the other my special somepony."

"Yeah, we're both [BEEP]-in touched, pal," replied Anti-Rainbow. "How much longer do we have to stay here?"

"Just a _little_ bit more, Crash," answered the gold-and-black pony. "There's a certain someone in this world who might end up bringing my plan to a halt."

Anti-Rainbow had a smirk on her face as she looked at Midnight. "I bet I know who it is..."

Midnight frowned, and was about to start arguing with her again when Anti-Stardust said, "No, it's not _Twilight_ , Crash, it's someone else..."

The alternate version of Twilight let out a sigh of relief while Anti-Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Well, then, why can't you just do what you always do to those that you hate?"

"Because it's not exactly that _easy_ , my non-patient friend," explained Anti-Stardust, who crossed his two front limbs, as if they were arms. "As of now, this individual isn't a threat, but I need to make sure it _stays_ that way."

Although she still had more to say, Anti-Rainbow chose to simply nod her head, while a concerned Midnight said, "I _told_ you, Star, that I should've also went with you so we could-"

"Oh, no, no, no, my lovely sweetheart," replied Anti-Stardust, shaking his head, with Midnight smiling at him lovingly while Anti-Rainbow made gagging noises. "Your time to take care of Twilight will come once I deal with my other self."

"And just _how_ do you plan on doing that again?" Anti-Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow.

The evil version of Stardust had a wide and sinister smile as he said, "Don't worry, Crash, you'll see for yourself when you and the others arrive."

* * *

 _(Stardust's World)_

Twilight was still in the library, continuing with her inspection of the world-traveling machine, but she found herself being interrupted by a certain pony.

"Everything alright, love?"

The young alicorn turned around, and saw a smiling Stardust. "I should be asking _you_ that same question... how's your headache?"

"All gone, surprisingly," replied Stardust, who began walking over to her. "Starlight's been doing her homework in magic."

Twilight smiled, and she said, "Well, I'm glad to see that you're feeling better..."

"Oh, so you _were_ worried about me, then?" Stardust replied, smirking at his special somepony. "I mean, _Spike_ was the first one to see if I was okay once Starlight finished her spell."

Twilight chuckled, and shook her head, saying, "Well, I'm _sorry,_ but I wanted to make sure that nothing _worse_ happens to my special somepony if he were to go through the Crystal Mirror again."

At this point, the muzzles of Stardust and Twilight were only a few inches away from each other, and the human-turned-pony asked, "Have I ever thanked you for bringing me back to life?"

The Princess of Friendship could feel herself blushing very hard as she said, "No, but... I wouldn't mind if you did it right now."

"Neither would I," agreed Stardust, but then, their intimate moment was interrupted by somepony they had least expected.

 _"So, is this basically_ _ **all**_ _that you do here in Twilight's castle, Star?"_

Stardust sighed, and he stepped back to turn around, facing the newcomer. "Why, oh, why... are _you_ still here, Shimmer?"

"As I told you before, Star, I'm on _summer break_ ," replied Sunset Shimmer, who (like a human teenager would) was laying against the door frame, crossing her front limbs together. "And admit it, you've missed me around here."

As Sunset quickly went back down to all fours, Stardust let out a sarcastic laugh, and said, "The day that I'll ever admit I missed you is when Celestia finally does something _useful,_ for once."

"Oh?" Sunset said, walking towards him. "Because _I remember_ you saying to Starswirl back at the party that you _did_ , in fact, miss me."

Stardust shook his head, and replied, "No, no, I said that I _sometimes_ miss you... and that doesn't really count."

" _Suuurree_ , it doesn't," said Sunset, while the gold pony rolled his eyes, grumbling to himself as he walked out of the library.

"Yep, he's definitely back to normal," said Twilight, and the two of them began laughing together.

 _############_

A few hours later, everypony in the castle was asleep... except for Sunset.

"Sleepiness sure feels different here than it does back home," said the yellow pony, who was making his way over to Twilight's kitchen.

She walked over to the fridge, and opened it to try and find something to drink or eat that would help her go to sleep.

"At least she doesn't have it full of whipped cream," muttered Sunset, a small smile appearing on her face, referring to what the EG version of Pinkie Pie had in her fridge.

She lowered her upper body down in order to search through the lower half of the fridge, in hopes of finding any "hidden" treats that-

 _Whack!_

 _"Ow!"_ Sunset immediately turned around, trying to see who else was there with her, but she couldn't find anypony.

She frowned, and softly rubbed her flank with one of her front hooves. "That was weird... and rude of whoever did that to me."

 _"So, you couldn't sleep either, huh?"_

" _Aaaaaggghhh!"_ Sunset turned around, almost startled, but quickly relaxing once she saw that it was only Stardust. "Oh, hey, Star..."

The gold pony looked at his friend, and asked, "Did I scare you or something?"

Sunset shook her head, and said, "No, you just surprised me, but I could've sworn that... somepony... just..."

She took another look at Stardust, and thought, _It couldn't have been him... He's not that type of person/pony._

"You sure you're good, Sunset?" He asked, and the former student of Celestia nodded her head.

"Yeah, I'm fine... so, what's your reason for being awake?"

Stardust sighed, and began walking over to another part of the kitchen. "I don't know exactly, but you'd think after almost being electrocuted and having a spell performed on you, I'd be knocked out in my room already."

Sunset watched as he opened a cabinet drawer, and pulled out a familiar-looking soda bottle, which he then began to drink out of once the lid was twisted off.

"You _still_ have those drinks?"

Stardust nodded his head, and paused his drinking to say, "Yep, all thanks to Pinkie Pie... the one from Casey's world, I mean... anyway, these usually help me go to sleep once I finish off a few."

"Oh... okay," replied Sunset, and she went back to looking through the fridge.

He then went back to drinking the _Coke_ bottle, but after seeing that his friend was struggling to find something to eat or drink, the young pony rolled his eyes, and muttered, "I really do have a soft spot for a lot of these damn ponies."

As for Sunset, she was about to close the fridge, and go back to her room when she heard her friend say, "Here."

Sunset turned around, and saw that Stardust was offering her an unopened soda bottle. "This might help you out, too, in case you're still awake later."

"Wow... thanks, Star," replied Sunset, smiling at him as she took the bottle from his hoof. "You know, nothing against you or Twilight, and don't be mad at me for saying this... but if there was some kind of alternate world that didn't have you two together..."

Before finishing her sentence, Sunset shook her head a few times, and said, "Never mind, I'm... I don't know what just happened there."

Stardust simply nodded his head, but using his thoughts, he spoke to Starswirl. _You DID block access to ALL of those worlds right? Cause she almost looked the way I did back when I felt how those other versions of me felt._

 _I'm positive that me and Celestia blocked everything, Jack_ , said Starswirl, while Stardust tried to break the silent tension before it became awkward.

"Well, uh... if you were gonna say what I thought you'd say... I highly doubt that any version of me would be interested in a pony like you... _no offense_."

Sunset frowned, not really amused at what he'd said, but after seeing him start to laugh in a kind way, she said, "You need to work on your comedy material there, pal."

"Ehhh, I'm tired, what do you expect?"

 _#################_

As Stardust climbed into his bed, after having drank enough bottles of _Coke_ to make him sleepy, he asked Starswirl, "So, you still don't know why the Crystal Mirror did that whole electric thing?"

 _I'm afraid not, Jack... there are still some things about Equestria that not even I myself know about._

Stardust sighed, and he said, "Well, do me a favour, and try to inform Casey and his Twilight about this... I don't want anything bad happening to them..."

 _I'll do my best._

"Good, cause I'm..." Stardust then let out a yawn, closing his eyes as he layed his head on his pillow, and went straight to sleep.

* * *

 _The next day_

It was around 8 o'clock in the morning, and Stardust was still sound asleep, not planning on waking up anytime soon.

However, things don't always turn out the way you expect them to.

 _"TWILIGHT!"_

 _"[BEEP]!"_ Stardust yelled, jumping out of his bed, and falling down to the ground.

" _This had_ _ **better**_ _be good..."_

A few minutes later, Stardust entered the Throne Room, and found Rainbow Dash talking to Twilight. "I don't remember asking you to be my alarm clock, Rainbow... and what's so important that you just _had_ to wake me up?"

"I'm sorry, Stardust, but somepony did something to my house," exclaimed Rainbow. "And I need help from both of you to figure out _who_ , _why_ , and _how_ to get the stuff off."

Stardust frowned in confusion, and he asked her, "What are you talking about?"

 _(Rainbow Dash's home)_

" _Seriously?"_ The young pony rolled his eyes, and added, "It's just some lame attempt at graffiti."

He was referring to the front doors of Rainbow's house, which had the words _"Rainbow Crash_ " sprayed across it.

Twilight tried rubbing it off with her hoof, but it didn't really do much. "Whatever it is, it's already dry... um, what _is_ it, Rainbow?"

" _I don't know_ ," replied the young Pegasus. "I was hoping you two would tell me!"

Stardust walked up to the door, and took a closer look at the painted-on words. "Whoever did this used a quick-drying spray paint can."

"A _what now_?" Rainbow and Twilight asked.

Stardust nodded his head, and replied, "Yep, from a spray paint can... it's pretty much something that certain people from my world use to either create art murals and stuff on walls, or in this case, write out something offensive."

"You think you'd be able to help take it off, Jack?" Twilight asked, sounding concerned.

Stardust nodded his head, and started to chuckle. "I'm pretty sure _our_ Pinkie has spray-paint removal somewhere... it'll take only, like, 5 minutes or so to remove it completely."

He and Twilight both smiled, with the alicorn feeling a little better, but Rainbow still looked upset. "Well, what about _inside_?"

Stardust's smile quickly went away. "What, there's more?"

 _"Uh-huh_ ," replied Rainbow, and she led her friends inside her home, while Stardust rolled his eyes again.

"Well, if it's as _bad_ as what's on the door, then it'll only... take... oh... my... _God_..."

The interior walls of Rainbow's house were a _hundred times worse_ than her front door, and as Stardust looked all around, his mood went from shocked to curiosity, and was almost close to pure rage.

As for Twilight, she only went from shocked to confused. "What _are_ these words exactly?"

Whoever had done this to Rainbow's house chose to write out certain words that, if a young child were to say it out loud accidentally in front of Mom or Dad, he or she would go through _hell_.

"Let's just say that not even my _'BEEPS'_ can cover up this type of foul language," growled Stardust, and he looked over at Rainbow. "Whoever did this is gonna go through **hell** once I get my hooves on him or her."

Rainbow nodded her head, and said, "Thanks, Star... but don't take all the fun, I wanna teach this pony a lesson too."

"Oh, don't worry, you can do _whatever_ you want to the pony that did this until you're satisfied," replied the gold pony. "Do what I would do, and don't hold anything ba..."

Stardust suddenly stopped talking, and started to raise one of his front limbs to the back of his neck. "What... the..."

"You okay, Star?" Rainbow asked.

"Yeah, it's just... I'm feeling something... underneath my-" answered Stardust, but then, Rainbow tried to help by grabbing hold of the end of his cloak, and she swung it up in the air.

 _Thud!_

After Rainbow released the cloak from her hooves, the three of them found themselves looking down at a spray paint can, which had landed near Stardust's front hooves.

" _Stardust_?" Rainbow stared at her friend, with a lot of mixed emotions going through her mind right now.

 _I'm sensing a lot of growing anger from her, Jack._

The former human agreed with Starswirl, and said, "Okay, just _chill_ for a second, Rainbow, don't think that just because I-"

"Um, Jack, why are your hooves..." asked Twilight, and Stardust looked down at his hooves to see that all four of them were completely covered in spray paint.

"This is probably from when I rubbed the graffiti on the door," said Stardust. "You touched it too, remember?"

Twilight gulped, amd pointed out, "I touched it too, though, Jack, and my hoof is fine... plus, all four of your hooves are covered in the same paint."

Stardust looked at his special somepony's hooves, then his own, and ended at Rainbow Dash, who was definitely NOT happy with him. " _I... can't believe... that you.._."

She then gritted her teeth in frustration, and exclaimed, " _I... am... going... to..."_

"Well, now, hold it just a moment, Rainbow," said Stardust. "You honestly don't think that _I_ was the pony who did this, do you?"

Instead of answering him, Rainbow looked like she was about to unleash a _lot_ of rage onto Stardust, who was offered a suggestion by Starswirl.

 _You might want to run, Jack._


	3. Str2nge Things, Part 2

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

Chapter 3 - Strange Things, Part 2

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

Stardust was about to head straight for Rainbow Dash's door when Twilight stood between the two ponies. "All right, hold on... look, there's no need to hurt him, Rainbow."

" _Twilight, look at what he did to my home_!" Rainbow cried, gesturing to all of the highly-offensive words that were spray painted onto her walls.

"I _told you,_ Rainbow, that I didn't _do_ any of this," exclaimed Stardust, now getting frustrated. " _Why_ would I do something like this?"

The Pegasus pony frowned at him, and said, "Don't try to make up excuses, Star, I _know_ that you did this... I thought you were my _friend_."

"Rainbow, _as your_ friend, I am _telling you_ that I did not-" yelled Stardust, but Twilight interrupted him.

"Look, we'll figure this stuff out later, alright? In the meantime, Jack, help Rainbow out with cleaning all of this up."

 _"What?!"_ Stardust exclaimed, not expecting her to say that. "Twilight, love, I'm all for helping remove this stuff from her door, but do you know how _long_ it would take for the two of us to remove... all of _this_?"

"Maybe if you didn't _do_ this, then-"

"For the _last_ time, Rainbow, I _did not_ [BEEP]-in do any of..." Stardust cried, but then, Twilight moved closer to him, standing face-to-face with the young pony.

"Jack... please... I'm not saying that you actually _did_ do this, but..." Twilight looked back at the upset Rainbow, who was trying to remove the spray paint with soap and a brush. "Prove to her that you didn't do this by helping her clean this up."

Stardust frowned, and said, "Knowing how stubborn she is, love, I don't think that's going to help out much."

"Well, it'll probably be worse if you storm off like an angry or upset child," replied the alicorn princess. "Now, I'll do what I can here before I handle some important business with Shining Armor and Cadence at the Crystal Empire, but in the meantime, go and find Pinkie Pie so that you two can come here to help Rainbow clean all this up... okay?"

Stardust tried to argue with her some more, but Starswirl offered him some more advice.

 _Just relax, Jack... we will find the culprit later on, but don't let he or she have the last laugh by letting your friendship with Miss Dash be ruined by a careless act._

"Alright, I'll help her and Pinkie with cleaning all this up," muttered Stardust, knowing that it was the right thing to do, even though it definitely wasn't something he wanted to do.

 _I don't even know how this damn stuff got on all of my hooves._

* * *

"Well, now that I'm done with this, I just have to..." Sunset looked up, and saw that the book she'd just finished reading belonged up on the highest shelf.

"Good thing I have unicorn magic again," said Sunset, letting out a chuckle as she prepared to use her magic to send the book back up to its proper spot.

Unfortunately, for some reason, her magic wasn't working. "That's strange."

Sunset concentrated on the book, her unicorn horn powering up, but it still wasn't moving. "Aw, _come on_... _aaugghh!"_

The young human-turned-pony gritted her teeth together as she suddenly felt the right side of her flank be in the same amount of pain as last night when somepony had chosen to slap it.

" _Focus on the book, Sunset, worry about... your flank later."_

She tried several more times to move the book, but the result remained the same, so Sunset eventually walked away, and returned with a library ladder that she could climb up in order to put back the book.

"Alright, let's try this way," mumbled Sunset, taking the book in one of her hooves, and she started climbing up the ladder, going all the way up to the highest shelf.

" _Hmmm... T-R, T-S, T-U, T-V, T... ah, here we go,"_ said Sunset, smiling and feeling satisfied once the book was in its proper place. "Now, to just - _whoa!"_

While starting to make her way back down, Sunset's back legs accidentally fell off one of the steps, causing her to slip off of the ladder...

 _"I got you!"_

... and into the open hooves of Stardust, who looked relieved that she was safe. "You _do know_ that you're a unicorn, right?"

Sunset raised her eyebrow, and said, " _No_ , what ever gave it away, Stardust? My horn?"

"Hey, leave the sarcasm to _me,_ Shimmer," replied Stardust, as he helped her stand on all fours. "There you go... please try _not_ to get in any more danger while I'm gone."

A confused Sunset asked, "You're leaving again? But you just _got here_... right?"

"Yeah, and I'm sorry, Sunset, but there's some _cleaning_ stuff that I have to take care of."

As he walked out of the library, Sunset started to frown, and thought, _That was weird._

* * *

"So, _why_ did you spray paint all over Rainbow Dash's walls?"

Stardust groaned, and he replied, "I _told_ you, Pinkie, it wasn't me who did it... somepony else did, and tried putting the blame on me."

The pink pony, who was pulling a cart that contained cleaning supplies, tilted her head to the side as she asked, "Who would want to put the blame on you? You and Rainbow are friends!"

Once they entered the blue pony's house, the two of them noticed immediately that Twilight had already left, and only a small percent of the spray paint was removed.

"Huh, that _does_ sound like something the old you would've probably said to her," pointed out Pinkie, but Stardust quickly shook his head.

"I may not have enjoyed being with here _that_ much, Pinkie, but not even a person like me would ever say something like _this_ to Rainbow... I don't even know if I could say these words to Celestia-"

 _"Hey! Less talking, more cleaning up this mess that_ _ **you**_ _made, Stardust_!" Rainbow yelled, who had also made plans of her own for the day, but now they would have to be rescheduled.

" _Okie dokie lokie!_ " Pinkie said, giving her friend a salute, and went over to the nearest wall to start cleaning up.

As for Stardust, he decided to try and convince Rainbow again that it wasn't _him_ who did all of this.

 _Choose your words carefully, Jack, I'm sensing quite a lot of mixed feelings from Miss Dash._

"Thanks, Starswirl," whispered Stardust, and once he was close enough to her, he said, "Rainbow, please tell me that you don't actually think-"

"Well, what am I _supposed_ to think, Star? You had the _spray can_ hidden underneath your cloak, all _four_ of your hooves are covered in the same type of paint, and we both know that in the beginning, I was your _least favorite_ pony to be with."

Stardust sighed, knowing that it would take a _lot_ of the "right words" to convince his friend. "Okay, yes, that is true... for the _old me_... but that was a long time ago, Rainbow, and you know I've changed a lot since then."

" _Yeah, well_..." exclaimed Rainbow, who was now torn between believing or blaming him. "Maybe you _haven't_ changed as much as you thought."

"Rainbow, you can't just-" Stardust tried to say, but the Pegasus pony paused her cleaning to glare at him, and he could have sworn that her eyes were almost watery.

"Just _get away_ from me, Stardust... and some _friend_ you are."

As she flew over to another part of the house, a wave of sadness swept over Stardust, and he asked, "Any advice you have for me, Starswirl?"

 _Time, Jack. Give her some time to come around. I'm sure that, deep down, she knows you didn't do this._

Stardust sighed, and he started to work on removing the spray paint. "I hope you're right about that..."

* * *

 _Several Hours Later_

Now in the Throne Room, Sunset was admiring the Cutie Map table, trying to remember what parts of Equestria she had yet to visit. "I remember being _there_... and over _there_... but I don't think- _hey!_ "

She angrily turned around, having felt somepony grab her from behind, but like last night, the only pony in the room was herself.

" _Who_ in Equestria is trying to... nope, nope, just relax, Sunset, you're imagining this, it's all in your head because of that book you read earlier."

So, she went back to looking at the map, but a few minutes later, Sunset felt a pair of hands (or hooves?) on both sides of her flank.

" _Alright, you little_..." She turned around immediately, using her front right hoof to slap whoever did that, but to her surprise, Sunset found herself slapping Stardust.

 _"Ow! What the [BEEP] was that for?"_

Sunset frowned, and she exclaimed, "For trying to... with your... my flank..."

"What are you talking about?" Stardust asked, confused and frustrated, and Starswirl explained for him.

 _I believe she's trying to say that you, um... inappropriately touched-_

 _Yeah, I think I get it now._ Stardust rubbed the part of his cheek that she'd slapped, and replied, "I don't know why you're accusing me of... _you-know-what_ , Sunset, but I'm not in the mood right now to-"

"Well, you should have thought about that before..." Sunset cried, but then, she noticed that her friend _did_ look almost exhausted. "You look terrible."

Stardust smirked, and said, "Thanks a lot... I just spent almost the whole damn day cleaning up the walls of Rainbow Dash's house, thanks to some pony who I plan on giving _hell_ once I get my hooves on him or her."

Sunset looked at her friend, and thought, _It can't be him. He would never..._

"I take it you've been in the castle the whole day?"

The yellow unicorn nodded her head, and replied, "Yeah, pretty much... oh, and thanks again for what you did earlier this morning."

"Um... you're welcome," said Stardust, but to her surprise, he sounded like he had no idea what she was referring to.

 _He's probably just tired from cleaning at Rainbow's house._

"Okay, then, if we're done here..." Stardust started to walk away, but Sunset gently grabbed one of his front limbs.

"Um, Stardust? You would never, er... you know..."

"Oh, [BEEP] no," replied Stardust, shaking his head. "I have plenty of respect for females, and I would _never_ do something like that to _anyone_ or _anypony._.. why, did someone do that to you?"

Sunset was about to give her response, but paused when she noticed again that he looked exhausted, so she said, "It's nothing, Stardust, just... get some rest."

"Oh, I _plan_ to, trust me," replied the young man-turned-pony. "But you _do know_ that you can come to me if something is ever bothering you, right?"

Sunset nodded her head, and Stardust added, "Good... see you tomorrow."

As she watched him walk away, Sunset began to feel sorry for her friend, and hoped that he would be okay.

* * *

 _(Anti-Equestria)_

"So, how's it going, my love?" Midnight Sparkle asked, speaking to Anti-Stardust.

" _Oh, I'm having_ _ **plenty**_ _of fun, beautiful,_ cackled the sinister pony. _"Everything is going according to plan... and soon enough, you and the others will be here, having your own fun, as well._ "

A wide smile appeared on the alicorn's face, and she said, "I can't wait, handsome."

"Oh, _God_..." groaned Anti-Rainbow, shaking her head in disgust. "You two ponies need to get a [BEEP] room."

* * *

 _The Next Day (around a quarter to 8 o'clock)_

Stardust was knocked out on his bed, having used a lot of his strength and energy to remove the spray paint, and he planned on resting for a few more hours.

 _"TWILIGHT!"_

Stardust jolted out of his bed, dropping onto the ground again, and he yelled, " _[BEEP-BEEP-BEEP]_!"

Although he was still sore from yesterday, the young pony hurried over to the Throne Room, and found Twilight, as well as Starlight, talking to Applejack. "What _is it_ with you ponies and-"

" _You've got some serious explainin' to do, Stardust_ ," exclaimed Applejack, who did not look happy to see him.

"Look, if this is about Rainbow Dash, AJ, then I don't want-" said Stardust, but he was interrupted by Applejack.

"This _ain't_ about Rainbow, _Stardust_ , it's about what _you_ might have done to my farm last night while I was sleepin'!"

Stardust looked at her, and said, "Well, as a matter of fact, AJ, I can assure you that I was _here_ , in the castle, _sleeping_ in my _room_ because of how exhausted I was cleaning up the-"

"Uh, guys?" The three ponies turned around to see Spike, who looked concerned.

"What's wrong, Spike?" asked Twilight.

The young dragon gulped, and said, "Er, well, I was gonna remind Star about the plans we had for today, but when I went into his room, I saw that his bed was covered in mud and chicken feathers and... uh, you kinda look like..."

Applejack glared at Stardust, who realized that parts of his limbs and body were muddy, as well as his cloak being covered in chicken feathers.

"Uh, I might have to take a visit to Sweet Apple Acres, Spike."

However, Applejack shook her head, and said, "I don't think so, Stardust... it'll be better if you don't step one hoof into Sweet Apple Acres."

"Well, how do you expect me to-" said Stardust, but Applejack held up one of her hooves to silence him.

"Because even though I'm mad at you righ' now, Star, I don't want to see Granny Smith beat the livin' hay outta you when she finds out it was you, so do yourself a favor, and stay _away_ from my home."

Before Stardust could even say anything, Applejack walked away, and he saw that Twilight was following her. "Please tell me, love, that you don't think I actually-"

"I know, Jack, but..." said Twilight, looking sad and confused. "Just do what AJ said, okay? Now you can rest from what you did yesterday."

She then kissed him on the cheek before going after Applejack, and after Twilight was gone, Starlight asked, "Are you going to be okay, Stardust?"

"I... I... I don't..." The young pony replied, feeling sore, sad, and confused.

 _What in Equestria is happening to me?_

Then, an idea popped into his head, and a serious look appeared on his face. "I'm getting to the bottom of this, starting with going to Sweet Apple Acres."

 _"What?!"_ Starlight and Spike yelled, and the little dragon immediately shook his head.

"You heard what Applejack said, Star, she'll beat the _hay_ out of you."

Stardust smirked, and he replied, "Spike, I've gone up against enemies _worse_ than an angry and eldery Earth Pony... I'm sure I can handle her... besides, I'm not going to let whoever is doing this get the last laugh."

Ignoring Spike's warning, the young pony ran out of the room, in hopes of catching up to his friends, and Starlight looked at Spike. "You think he's gonna be okay?"

"Uh..." Spike took a moment to think about it. "Y-yeah... He'll be fine... I hope..."

* * *

 _A few hours later_

Starlight sighed, and she said, "I had a bad feeling this would happen."

Spike simply nodded his head, while Sunset looked at her friend, and asked, "What _happened_ to you?"

A heavily bruised, battered, and sore Stardust layed in his now-clean bed, and he coughed a few times before saying, "I made, uh... AJ's grandma _very_ upset... someone get me a _Coke,_ please..."


	4. The Pain Continues

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 4 - The Pain Continues_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

By the time Twilight had returned to the castle, night had already fallen, and Stardust was almost ready to go to sleep.

"How are you feeling, Jack?" asked the princess of Friendship, once she was in his room.

Stardust chuckled, and coughed a few times before he said, "Well... I'm definitely staying away from Sweet Apple Acres for a while... how's Applejack?"

Twilight sighed, and replied, "She's fine... just upset and confused about... whatever has been going on the past few days."

Stardust sat up in his bed, and looked at his girlfriend. "You don't _actually_ think that I-"

"No, Jack, I... don't... think so..." admitted Twilight, much to his surprise. "Percentage-wise, Jack, I believe you... around 90%, while the rest goes to Rainbow and AJ."

"Love, I am _telling_ you that I didn't do those things," replied Stardust. "Why would I destroy Applejack's farm after feeling relieved about the fact that Rowan didn't turn her and Applebloom into apple sauce?"

Twilight simply listened as her special somepony continued to talk. "And I already promised you _and_ to myself that I'd be a better friend to Rainbow... _why_ would I throw that all away?"

" _Well..._ " Twilight began to say, which made Stardust suddenly groan in frustration.

"Alright, yes, _I get it_ , the old me almost despised Rainbow, but I'm not that same person anymore, love... you're all family to me, at this point... I would _never_ try to ruin that..."

Twilight gave him a warm smile, and was about to reply when Sunset suddenly appeared by the doorway. "Aw, so does that mean _I'm_ part of your family, too?"

Stardust chuckled, and he replied, "Ehhh, you're more along the lines of a third cousin, twice removed."

Twilight and Sunset just looked at him, not knowing what to say, and Stardust said, "Forget it, just a bad joke..."

"Are you okay yourself, Sunset?" Twilight asked, while Sunset rolled her eyes. "I haven't really seen you that much recently."

"Probably because she's done nothing but hang around me," pointed out Stardust, which made Sunset smirk at him.

"Well, that's _some_ good news," replied Twilight. " _Somepony_ has to keep you under control."

Stardust rolled his eyes, and was about to give her a sarcastic reply when he noticed Sunset quickly looking like she was in pain. "You okay there, Sunset?"

The young pony had felt the right side of her flank burn with pain, but she forced a smile, saying, "Yeah, just, um... leg still kinda hurts a little from falling off the ladder in the library yesterday."

Twilight gasped, and she asked, " _Oh my gosh_ , Sunset, you... why didn't you tell any of us that-"

"I didn't get hurt or anything, Twilight, your special somepony here saved me from that," replied Sunset, nodding her head in Stardust's direction.

"I did?" Stardust replied, much to Sunset's confusion.

"Uh, yeah, I'm pretty sure you did," said the yellow unicorn. "Don't you remember?"

Before Stardust could answer her, Twilight suggested, "Jack, maybe we should inform Casey and the other Twilight about-"

"No... not yet," said Stardust, shaking his head. "I don't want that world to get caught up in any of this mess, and I plan on figuring out tomorrow who exactly is behind this."

* * *

 _The next day, around 8:30 am_

Although most of his bruises had disappeared, Stardust still appeared to be in a pretty rough shape, and his body was telling him that he needed to rest.

 _"TWILIGHT!"_

Instead of jumping out of his bed, Stardust groaned, and buried his face in the pillow. " _Please, not again..._ "

" _Where is he?!"_

" _[Beep]_!" The gold pony immediately woke up after hearing a loud and familar voice that came from down the hall, and just as he was about to lock his door, it was pushed open by an angry-looking Rarity.

" _You monster!"_ She cried, and before Stardust could say anything, Rarity started whacking him with her broom.

As Stardust yelped in pain, Twilight ran inside, and cried, "Rarity, stop! We don't even know if it was him that did it!"

"Did wha - _ow_!" Stardust received one more hit from Rarity's broom before she placed it onto the ground. "What is it this time that I _didn't_ do?"

"My newest outfits for Sapphire Shores are _completely_ ruined and destroyed," exclaimed the pony who represented the element of generosity. "I had them completed _weeks_ in advance, so that I could have some time to myself, but now all of my hard work has gone to waste... and it's because of _you_!"

Stardust groaned, bringing a hoof to his forehead, and he explained, "Rarity, first of all, if this happened while you were sleeping, then... it definitely wasn't me because I was here, in this room, recovering from getting the wind knocked out of me by Granny Smith."

"Oh, is _that_ so?" Rarity frowned at him, and she revealed to him a very familiar clothing object that she had with her. "Then, why did I find _your cloak_ at _my home_?"

Stardust quickly looked at himself, and realized that he wasn't actually wearing the cloak. "B-but how did... I wasn't..."

 _"You MONSTER!"_ repeated Rarity, and she went back to whacking him with her broom, but at a faster pace.

 _"Rarity, just... give me... a chance to... explain!"_ Stardust yelled, in between each of Rarity's broom hits. _"Or... at least... let me... help you!"_

Once she felt that she'd hit him enough, Rarity set the broom back down, and said, "You have done _quite enough_ , Stardust, considering what you've also done to Applejack and Rainbow Dash... do yourself a favor, and stay _away_ from my home."

She tossed the cloak at Stardust before walking away, and the gold pony looked over at Twilight, saying, "Please tell me that-"

"I _know_ , Jack, I know," said Twilight, letting out a sigh. "Don't worry, me and Spike will talk to her while we help her re-make her dresses."

After saying that, the alicorn princess walked away, while Stardust laid back down, groaning in pain and irritation. " _Why_ is this _happening_ to me?"

 _"Are you okay, Star?"_

Stardust sat up, and saw a concerned Sunset standing by his doorway. "I don't... I don't know, Sunset, I am just so... _confused_ and _frustrated_ and... in pain... why doesn't anypony believe me that I'm _not_ doing all of this stuff?"

"Well, I never said that I _didn't_ believe you, Star," replied the female unicorn. "And if you need some help proving to the others that you're innocent, all I have to do is-"

However, Stardust shook his head, and said, "Thanks, but... no thanks, Sunset, this isn't exactly an _Equestria Girls_ level problem, so-"

"Oh, so you don't think I can be useful?" Sunset said, her muzzle becoming a frown.

"Well, I mean, it _has_ been a long time since you've been to Ponyville, and I don't think that-"

 _Wham!_

The door was slammed shut before Stardust could finish talking.

 _I'm not entirely sure that was the right thing to say to her, Jack._

Stardust collapsed back into his bed, and muttered, "Ah, _[BEEP]_!"

* * *

A few minutes later, in Twilight's library, Sunset had finally been able to turn on her friend's Crystal Mirror teleportation machine.

 _Maybe it was a mistake for me to come back here..._

"So, you're just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

Sunset turned around, and saw Stardust by the entry way. "Why do you care? And how come you're not in bed?"

"Believe me, almost half of my body is yelling at me to go back," replied Stardust. "And the other half is saying to convince you _not_ to leave."

"It's not like I'll be of much use to you anyway," exclaimed Sunset, frowning at her friend. "My unicorn magic isn't even working, for some reason..."

A confused Stardust replied, "So, _that's_ what has been bothering you? Why didn't you ask Starlight or Twilight about-"

"Because I'm sure they have enough problems on their hooves, trying to clean up somepony's mess that looks like it was done by you," exclaimed Sunset. "And that isn't... exactly... it..."

"Well, then what is it?" Stardust asked, who was also trying to stall her.

Sunset looked a little embarrassed as she said, "It doesn't really... what help can _you_ do for me? You're not a unicorn."

"I'm well aware of that," retorted the young Earth Pony. "But a certain _'ancient pony_ ' once told me that we have a... have, uh..."

 _Having trouble remembering?_

Stardust rolled his eyes, and muttered, "I can't help if I remember something that happened five or six seasons ago..."

Then, he turned his attention back to Sunset, who had started to try and leave again. "Look, I'm only asking that you at least give me a chance to help you, Sunset... please..."

The young unicorn sighed, hanging her head down as she started feeling more embarrassed about what she was going to tell him.

Letting out a sigh, Sunset stretched one of her front limbs back, and pointed to the right side of her flank, while Stardust blinked his eyes a few times, as well as feeling awkward. "Um... Sunset.. I thought I already said that I didn't..."

"Not _that_ , Star," muttered Sunset, whose face was red with embarrassment. "Somepony... slapped me right here, and... tried to, um..."

Stardust frowned, and he replied, "I get it, don't worry... and if it's the same pony whose been trying to frame me, then that pony's gonna through _all_ of _my_ levels of _hell_ once I get my hooves on said pony."

Sunset still looked embarrassed, so Stardust put a hoof on her shoulder, and said, "Hey, it's fine, you don't have to tell anypony else... and I won't either..."

Sunset smiled up at him, and nodded her head. "Alright... thanks... now, let me help _you_."

Stardust noticed that she was now raising up her hoof, and he rolled his eyes. " _Fine,_ but make it quick... I don't want to have flashbacks to a certain event that took place."

"Don't be such a baby," smirked Sunset, and she placed a hoof on his forehead, causing her eyes to glow as she saw certain memories of his from the past few days.

As she was doing that, Stardust simply looked around the room, and started singing one of his favorite Crush 40 songs quietly to himself.

 _"What goes up, must come down, yet my feet don't touch the ground..."_

Then, by the time he had reached the chorus, Sunset brought her hoof down, and he asked, "Well? What did you see?"

Sunset simply smiled at him, and she said, "Don't worry, I've got your fla- your back, Star. Just go and bring Twilight and the others, and meet me in the Throne Room."

 _She's speaking the truth, Jack. Everything will be fine now once they hear from her._

Stardust nodded his head, agreeing with Starswirl, and he said, "Alright, be back in a few... thanks so much, Sunset."

"Hey, that's what friends are for," replied Sunset, and the two of them smiled at each other before Stardust hurried out of the castle as fast he could possibly go.

As for Sunset, she had turned back around to turn off the machine, but while she was doing it, the young unicorn heard the voice of her friend.

"So, just to clarify... I'm _totally_ innocent, right?"

Sunset let out a chuckle, and nodded her head, saying, " _Yes_ , Star, all I have to do is tell the others, and you'll be fine."

 _"Well, then..."_

Suddenly, she felt a pair of hooves on her flank, and roughly turning her around so that she could be face-to-face with...

 _"... I'll have to make sure you don't say to them the_ _ **right**_ _thing."_

It looked like Stardust, but this pony was wearing a black cloak, with a different type of Cutie Mark, and a scratch over one of his eyes.

He also still had both of his front hooves on her flank, and for some reason, she found herself unable to move.

" _W-who are you supposed to be?"_

Anti-Stardust grinned at her, and said, "To save us both some time, I'm pretty much an evil version of your golden pony friend, beautiful... and in order for my plan to work, I need _you_ to convince everypony that _he_ is the one who did those things that _I_ actually did."

"Well, what makes you think I'd do anything you say?"

The sinister pony's smile became a frown, and Sunset yelped in pain as she felt both sides of her flank burn painfully, due to his hooves still being there.

"Because if you _don't,_ sweetheart, I might just have to resort to a more... _different_ method... get the picture?"

Trying her best to ignore the pain coming from her flank, Sunset said, "You won't get away with this, cause all I have to do is-"

"I'm sorry, _did I not make myself clear, my dear_?" growled Anti-Stardust, bringing Sunset right up to him so that they were now eye-to-eye, and their foreheads were pinned against each other. _"If you value your friend's life, you will do as I say..."_

Sunset gulped, and found herself whispering, " _He'll s-see you... doing this to me..._ "

Anti-Stardust went back to grinning at Sunset, and before placing his muzzle onto hers, he said, _"Oh, I have a solution for_ _ **that**_ _, beautiful."_


	5. It's Our Castle Now

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 5 - It's Our Castle Now_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

When Stardust and Twilight entered the Throne Room, along with the rest of the Mane Six, they noticed that Sunset didn't look so well.

"You all righ', sugarcube?" asked Applejack, concerned. "You don't look like your regular shade of yellow."

Sunset nodded her head, and replied, "Yeah, AJ, I'm fine... I just have some... really important news to give to all of you."

" _Finally_ , now the rest of you will know that Stardust _did_ do what he did to the three of us," growled Rainbow Dash, who still did not believe that he was innocent.

Stardust chuckled, and he said, "Oh, I think you'll be singing a different tune, Rainbow, once you hear what Sunset has to say."

While Rainbow rolled her eyes, Rarity let out a moan, and cried, "Let's just get this done with so that I can go back to fixing my _completely ruined_ dresses."

"And I'm only halfway done with repairin' the damage to our farm," added Applejack, walking over to her throne.

Stardust was about to reply to Applejack, but then, he also noticed that Sunset looked different than how he'd seen her earlier.

 _Something is wrong, Jack. I can sense it._

"Well, the sooner we get this done with, the sooner I can try to help her," whispered Stardust, who then cleared his throat, and walked over to the yellow unicorn. "Alright, everypony, I believe Sunset here has something to say that will prove what I've known all along since the start of this whole thing."

"So, you're _finally_ going to confess about the horrible things you've done to the three of us," exclaimed Rainbow, while Rarity and Applejack nodded their heads.

Feeling confident, Stardust shook his head, and replied, "Nope, you're going to learn the real truth... go on, Sunset, tell them."

Everypony looked at the yellow unicorn, who gulped nervously, and said, "Stardust is guilty."

 _"Ha-ha, see?_ Now, who's the..." Stardust paused his triumphant moment after realizing what she had just said. "Wait, what?"

Avoiding trying to look at him, Sunset nodded her head, and said, "Like I said, he's guilty... I saw him spray-painting in Rainbow's house, causing havoc at Applejack's barn, and ruining the dresses that Rarity designed."

Stardust's muzzle almost dropped to the ground, while Fluttershy gasped in shock. "Stardust, how _could you?"_

"I _didn't_ do it!" exclaimed the young pony, again denying that he'd done those things. "She just-"

"Proved to all of us that you haven't changed at all," added Rainbow, and she flew out of the room before he could say anything.

Applejack shook her head, and said, "I ain't as mad as I was at you yesterday, Star... but now I'm mighty disappointed in you."

Once she walked out, Rarity scoffed at Stardust, and said, "You should be ashamed of yourself."

She then left the Throne Room, as well, and it looked like Fluttershy was next.

"I can't believe you... would _do_ something so... horrible," said the yellow Pegasus, also sounding disappointed.

"Fluttershy, you have to believe-"

But she followed after their friends, and Stardust looked at Pinkie Pie and Twilight. "Don't tell me you... Pinkie, you can't really..."

A saddened Pinkie simply walked away, without saying a single word.

"Twilight, love, you know that I-"

The young alicorn sighed, and she said, "I don't know _who_ to believe at this point, Jack... but I'll try to do whatever I can."

Before Stardust could say anything else, Twilight quietly left the room, leaving him alone with Sunset.

For a moment, neither of them said anything, until Stardust turned around to glare at Sunset. " _Why_?"

The young unicorn shook her head, and said, "It's not what it looks like, Star, I was-"

"Oh, don't you give me _that_ excuse, Sunset Shimmer," exclaimed Stardust, gritting his teeth in frustration. "You told me that you'd be able to fix this!"

"I know, but I-"

Stardust angrily pointed his hoof at the doors. "Well, do you call that fixing it?"

Sunset gulped, the tone of her friend's voice making her feel more guilty, and she was about to give her response, but Stardust still had more to say.

"I gave you a chance to help me, Sunset, and _this_ is how you repay me? After everything we've been through?"

"Star, please, let me explain, I was..." cried Sunset, but then, the right side of her flank started to burn again, and she heard the voice of Anti-Stardust in her mind.

 _Don't even think about it... you tell him the truth, and I'll kill him right in front of you._

" _Well?"_ Stardust said, waiting for her to continue.

Sunset shook her head, ignoring the burning pain, and said, "Star, I'm sorry, but... I _had_ to tell them that..."

"No, you _didn't_ ," said the Earth Pony, who was too upset right now to notice his friend was in pain. "You could've done the _right thing,_ but instead, you chose to betray our trust... our friendship... and for what? Because of what I said earlier?"

The yellow unicorn tried to tell Stardust the truth, but his evil self (that he couldn't see) had placed his hoof on her flank, and the pain increased even more.

"Stardust... please... I can... fix this..." begged Sunset, holding in as many tears as she could, but Stardust shook his head.

"You've done plenty, Shimmer," said the angered pony. "So, why don't you do the both of us a favor, and go back to that [BEEP] world you call your actual home?"

Sunset opened her muzzle to say something, but Stardust added, "Your tears aren't going to work right now, Shimmer. I am so... disappointed with you... so, just get away from me."

"Stardust, please, just listen to what I'm trying to-" begged Sunset.

"I said, _leave..._ just, please, leave..." replied the hurt pony.

Sunset shook her head, and cried, "But I was trying to-"

While Anti-Stardust increased the pain even more, the real one pointed at the door, and yelled, "Sunset, just _leave_ before I do something I'll end up regretting..."

 _You're only making things worse for the both of you, Sunset,_ said Anti-Stardust, but the young unicorn wasn't going to give in to his demands.

"Stardust, please, I'm your friend, I was-"

"Not right now, you're not," exclaimed Stardust, the tone of his voice making Sunset walk backwards out of the room. "Now, for the last time, would you... _get_ out of here?"

And before she could say anything else, Stardust closed the door in her face, leaving the young pony alone... or, so he thought.

"This is just effing great," muttered the young pony, taking a seat in his throne.

 _Don't you think you were a little hard on her, Jack?_

"No... maybe..." Stardust groaned, and brought a hoof to his forehead. "You _saw_ what happened, Starswirl."

 _Yes, Jack, what I saw was a very uncomfortable Sunset who looked like she regretted saying those accusations._

"What are you talking about?"

* * *

Once Sunset had returned to the library, Anti-Stardust appeared next to her, and she said, " _There_ , I did what you asked... now, can you just leave?"

" _Leave?_ " The sinister pony let out a laugh, and exclaimed, "I think _not_ , Sunset... I'm not through with you yet."

He then proceeded with touching her flank again, but Sunset angrily whacked his limb away. "You'd _better_ stop touching me like that."

"Or _what, Shimmer_?" growled Anti-Stardust, and he reached for her flank again, but right before the sick and twisted pony could touch her, Sunset used her front right hoof to slap him.

 _"Why, you little... [BEEP]!"_

Anti-Stardust brought his hoof back, and used it instead to deliver his own vicious slap to Sunset's face, causing the unicorn to fall down to the ground.

"I'm about to make you regret doing tha-"

 _Whoosh!_

All of a sudden, an energy blast appeared, sending Anti-Stardust to fly back, crashing into some of the bookshelves, and after he landed on the floor, mutiple books fell from the shelves, landing on top of him.

Sunset looked behind her, and saw the real Stardust, who was in his _"super saiyan pony"_ form, courtesy of the necklace he'd gotten from Miles' world.

"Now _that's_ what I call one badass _Ki_ blast," said Stardust, with a proud smirk on his face.

He walked over to Sunset, helping her stand up, and asked, "Are you okay?"

Sunset nodded her head, and wrapped her front limbs around him, giving Stardust a hug. " _Thank you, Star..._ and I really am sorry for what I said earlier to the others. My mind was-"

"Yeah, I know how that feels," chuckled Stardust, and he tapped his skull with one of his front hooves. "Not a fan."

 _I hope that doesn't mean you regret me being here, then, Jack._

Stardust was about to give a comedic response when the two of them heard Anti-Stardust say, " _How sweet... and pathetic..._ "

"Where exactly did _you_ come from?" asked Stardust, looking him up and down. "Some new type of Changeling from Queen Mephilis?"

Anti-Stardust laughed, and he said, "I'm _you_ , Jack... from an alternate universe."

Stardust frowned, and he said, "That can't be right... I went to all those worlds, and none of them looked like you."

"Yes, but there was another world that Princess Celestia missed," explained Anti-Stardust. "And if Rowan hadn't sent Casey to _your_ world on that fateful day, I probably wouldn't even be here... but I am _now_ , and I'm about to take from you what _should've_ belonged to _me_."

Stardust raised an eyebrow, and he asked, "Just _how_ exactly do you plan on doing that?"

"Recognize this?" Anti-Stardust raised up his front left hoof, and the two ponies saw that it bore a homemade wristwatch.

" _Casey_..." gasped Stardust, and he began to frown. "What did you do to him?"

Anti-Stardust laughed again, and he replied, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Stardust and Sunset watched as the black-and-gold pony fidgeted with the watch, and pointed his hoof at them.

"You know, Jack, you should be thanking me..."

" _Thanking you?_ " Stardust exclaimed. "For _what_?"

Anti-Stardust grinned, and he answered, "For sending you back to your _other_ home planet... _permanently_."

 _BOOM!_

Suddenly, two small beams were fired out of Casey's device, and once they hit Stardust and Sunset, they both vanished into thin air.

"And now that I've _taken care of that_..."

He made some more adjustments to the wristwatch, and after hearing a beeping sound, similar to that of a walkie talkie, Anti-Stardust said, "The time has come, my love... _invite all of our friends to the party._ "

 _"Stardust?"_

Turning off the device, Anti-Stardust looked up to see Twilight, who had spoken, as well as Spike and the rest of the Mane Six.

"Ah, perfect, you're all right on time," cackled the sinister pony. "But it's too bad you couldn't save Sunset or my worthless counterpart."

Spike frowned, and he said, "I _knew_ something wasn't right when that machine had the explosion a few days ago... what did you do with them?"

"Oh, don't worry, you're all going to see them very soon," replied Anti-Stardust. "But first, I'd like to tell you all that I personally _enjoyed_ bringing mayhem to this world... as well as putting the blame on _him_."

Rainbow gritted her teeth as she realized what he was referring to. " _You_ were the one who did all that stuff?"

"Yep, and all three of you _foolish_ ponies actually _believed_ that he was the one to blame," confirmed Anti-Stardust, who smiled as he heard the machine behind him start to activate. "Especially _you_ , Rainbow _Crash_."

Rainbow was about to respond to Anti-Stardust, but then, they heard a familiar voice cry out, " _Hey, she doesn't_ _ **deserve**_ _to be called that!_ "

"And _hello_ to you, too, Crash," said Anti-Stardust, as everypony watched a more evil-looking version of Rainbow step out of the mirror.

"Well, if you hadn't taken so [BEEP]-in long to get us all over here..." muttered Anti-Rainbow, who then glared at her counterpart.

A look of surprise and confusion appeared on Twilight's face as she asked, "You mean there's _more_ of-"

However, the alicorn princess found herself being interrupted as more _evil_ versions of her friends came out of the Crystal Mirror.

"Well, what do ya know, Midnight? Your counterpart's got herself a mighty fine castle," said Anti-Applejack, who was followed by Twilight's evil counterpart.

"Quite right, darling," agreed Anti-Rarity, who came out after Midnight. "Such a shame we don't have this back in _our_ world."

Up next was Anti-Pinkie, who didn't really _look_ that much different than her other self, whom she offered a big red balloon too. "Does this make you happy, Pinkie?"

Pinkie happily accepted it from Anti-Pinkie, and said, "Uh-huh, thanks!"

Her other self nodded, and then, with a sinister smile, she reached into her muzzle, pulling out a toothpick, which was used to pop the red balloon.

"Well, I _hate_ balloons... and _parties_... and especially _party cannons_."

Pinkie gasped, and she whispered to Twilight, "Okay, this pony is _definitely_ evil!"

The last pony to step out was Anti-Fluttershy, who simply walked up to her counterpart, and said, " _Boo_."

 _"Aaaaggghhh_!" Fluttershy stepped back, holding tightly onto Rainbow, who rolled her eyes, while Anti-Fluttershy joined the rest of her friends.

"Okay, does anypony want to _explain_ what the _hay_ is going on?" Applejack asked, who was feeling frustrated and confused.

Pinkie was about to answer, but Anti-Pinkie beat her to it. "This is an evil version of Stardust, and the rest of us are evil versions of all of you."

"Well, what about _me_?" asked Spike, who had yet to see another version of himself step out.

"Ah, yes, my _true love_ ," said Anti-Rarity, looking at the dragon and her other self. "He was a little too... _big_... for the mirror, so you won't see him just yet."

"Wait a second... _true love..._ " Spike then let out a gasp. " _You're dating each other_?"

Anti-Rarity nodded her head, and Spike instantly felt hatred against his counterpart. _Lucky little..._

"Um, why would that matter, Spike?" Rarity asked, confused.

"Huh? Oh, just, uh, was curious, is all..."

Midnight rolled her eyes, and as she looked around the room, the alicorn spoke to her friends and special somepony.

"You know what, everypony? I think it's time for a change of pace."

"Huh?" Twilight said, and Anti-Stardust smiled as he went to stand next to Midnight.

Then, before he started to sing a song, Anti-Stardust said, " _Right, you are, my dear!_ She _does_ have a point, you know, and with _just_ the right touch..."

 **[Background Music - "It's Our House Now" from Disney's House of Villains]**

 _This could be quite the place!_

 _[Midnight]_

 _Full of wholesome, happier faces_

 _[Anti-Rainbow]_

 _Hanging out_

 _[Anti-Pinkie]_

 _Feeling fine_

 _[Anti-Fluttershy]_

 _Where everyone's a friend of mine_

"At least _this_ Stardust isn't afraid of singing," whispered Rainbow, talking to Twilight, who rolled her eyes.

Pinkie found herself dancing along to the song, but when she noticed her friends staring at her, the pink pony sheepishly said, "Sorry."

 _[Anti-Stardust]_

 _Inside this evil joint_

 _[Anti-Applejack]_

 _Every guest gets to the point_

 _[The Anti Mane Six]_

 _This day will live in infamy_

Twilight looked around, and quickly realized that the library, as well as her beloved castle, was starting to transform into a more horrific and darker version.

 _[Anti-Stardust]_

 _And, soon, you'll all be history!_

The Crystal Mirror changed, as well, and one by one, the Anti-Mane 6 were tossing their counterparts through it.

 _[Anti-Ponies]_

 _It's our house now_

 _It's our house now_

 _[Anti-Stardust]_

 _It's the fact you can't ignore!_

Twilight and Rarity both tried firing magical beams at Anti-Stardust, but he swiftly blocked them, and said, " _Oh, I don't think so!_ "

 _[Anti-Ponies]_

 _It's our house now_

 _Our time to shine_

 _Has come at last!_

 _[Anti-Rainbow - spoken]_

 _See you later, Rainbow Dash!_

 _[Anti-Mane Ponies]_

 _It's our house now!_

Rainbow was thrown into the portal, along with Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack.

 _[Anti-Applejack]_

 _All us evil ponies_

 _Fit in so perfectly_

 _[Midnight Sparkle]_

 _And we will finally_

 _Get our due respect!_

 _[Anti-Pinkie]_

 _You'll forget your troubles_

 _Put your trust in me_

Pinkie's eyes started feeling dizzy, but Twilight quickly brought her away from Anti-Pinkie, who scowled at the princess of Friendship.

 _[Anti-Rarity]_

 _You had your fun_

 _[Anti-Fluttershy]_

 _You made your play_

 _[Anti-Stardust]_

 _But every pony has their day!_

" _Twilight!"_ yelled Spike, who had been grabbed by Anti-Stardust.

The alicorn tried stopping him, but she found herself being pinned to the ground by Midnight.

 _[Anti-Ponies]_

 _It's our house now_

 _[Pinkie Pie]_

 _What a party!_

 _[Twilight - spoken] Pinkie!_

 _[Anti-Ponies]_

 _It's our house now_

 _[Pinkie - spoken] Sorry!_

 _[Anti-Rainbow]_

 _What a place for breaking bread_

 _[Anti-Rarity]_

 _Time to get crazy_

 _[Pinkie - spoken]_

 _I want to go back to bed!_

 _[Anti-Ponies]_

 _It's our house now_

 _It's our house now_

 _Join the fun with no regrets_

 _Only greedy, dirty deeds are allowed_

Anti-Stardust watched as Twilight and Pinkie tried to escape, and he shouted, " _Get those little ponies!"_

Then, once they had been brought back, Anti-Pinkie threw her counterpart into the portal. " _Game over, Pinkie Pie!"_

Anti-Stardust laughed, and flashed a sinister smile at Spike before tossing him in after her. " _Hit the road, Spike!"_

The last one to be thrown into the portal was Twilight, courtesy of Midnight. " _Take a hike, Twilight!"_

 _[Anti-Ponies]_

 _It's our house now_

 _(Don't bother coming back)_

 _It's our house now_

* * *

 _(Big Ben - London, England)_

Stardust gulped, and he said, "Alright, Sunset... whatever you do, do _not_ look down!"

Looking at her friend, Sunset nodded, and tried getting a tighter grip on the metallic hand that represented minutes.

"And Casey?" Stardust looked up, seeing the orange-yellow pony.

"Yeah, Star?" replied Casey, who was holding onto the tip of the hand that represented hours.

Seeing that the clock had "11:45" as the time, Stardust said, "We'll see you in about 15 minutes."


	6. Welcome to Earth

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 6 - Welcome to Earth_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

Once Twilight and the rest of the Mane 6 were gone, Anti-Stardust started to feel very triumphant.

"Well, everypony, we're _finally_ free from that horrible world," he said, with a wide smile. "And, there's no one left here that can stop us from doing what we want."

 _"Uh..."_

Anti-Stardust turned around, and looked at Anti-Pinkie, who instantly closed her mouth. "Is there something you'd like to add, Pinkie?"

"Er..." Anti-Pinkie replied, hesitant to continue her sentence, but then, Anti-Rainbow walked up to stand in front of here.

" _Hey, the pony asked you a question_!"

Anti-Pinkie let out a squeak of fright, and Anti-Stardust said, "Easy there, Crash, just give her some room to speak."

As the alternate version of Rainbow stepped away, Pinkie's other self said, "I was... going to remind... you... about, um, this world's version of Discord and S-Starlight Glimmer."

"Oh, was _that_ all?" Stardust's evil self laughed, and shook his head. "I've already taken care of them..."

* * *

The famous clocktower, known as Big Ben, now read the time as 11:58, which meant that Stardust and Sunset were only two minutes away from reaching Casey.

"You think this giant hand thing can support all of us?" asked the black-haired teenager.

Stardust nodded, and he replied, "Pretty sure, yeah..."

"I hate to sound pushy right now, Star," said the flame-haired teenager, who was still trying to avoid looking down. "But I don't know how much longer my hands can hold onto this thing... and even though I'm wearing jeans, it's _cold_ up here!"

Stardust agreed with her, and he took a moment to flex his own fingers one at a time. "I'm hearing you... and I'm trying, but this is-"

 _This might be a bad time, Jack, but I suggest that you let go._

 _"What?!"_ Stardust yelled, shocked that his friend would say that. "Do you know how _high up_ we are right now?"

 _I am aware of the height, yes, but you don't really think I would let anything bad happen to you all, do you?_

Once the clock reached the 11:59 a.m. mark, Stardust and Sunset carefully latched themselves onto the hour hand, sitting underneath Casey, and Stardust said, "I think I'll consider other possible options, buddy, before I go with that one."

Starswirl let out a sigh. _Well, then I suggest you and the others brace your ears for what's going to happen next._

Stardust was about to ask what he meant, but then, the clock struck twelve.

 _Ding-dong-ding-dong! Ding-dong-ding-dong!_

 _"HOLY [BEEP]!"_ Stardust yelled, although it was more like he was mouthing the words since he couldn't hear himself over the bell chimes.

 _Ding-dong-ding-dong!_

 _Ding-dong-ding-dong!_

Then, the bell stopped, and all three of the teenagers were blinking their eyes, as well as shaking their heads.

"Uhh... you two okay?" Stardust asked, looking up at Casey, and down at Sunset.

Sunset nodded her head, and was about to talk to him when the first chime of twelve was made.

 _DING! Poof!_

All of a sudden, Twilight appeared in front of Stardust, floating in the air, and she said, "Jack? Is that-"

 _Hurry, grab hold of her!_

Before Twilight could end up falling down to the ground, Stardust grabbed one of her now-human hands, and brought her towards him.

"Hang onto this tightly, love," said Stardust, as he helped his girlfriend over to the other side of the hour hand.

Twlight nodded her head, tightening her grip, and said, "Jack, I'm sorry that-"

 _DING! Poof!_

Fluttershy was the next to appear, and she accidentally found herself looking down.

 _"Aaaaaaggghhhhhh!"_

 _"I've got you, Fluttershy!"_ Casey shouted, grabbing hold of the animal-loving teenager, who then wrapped her arms around the other side of the hour hand.

Fluttershy immediately closed her eyes, and said, "T-thank you, Casey..."

 _DING! Poof!_

When Rarity appeared, Sunset quickly brought her over to the other side of the hand, and said, "Hang on tightly!"

Wrapping her arms around the giant hour hand, the purple-haired teenager nodded her head, and she said, "Thank you, Sunset... I'm so glad to see-"

However, Rarity found herself looking down, seeing how high up she was from the ground, and she let out a scream.

" _Will every one_ _stop_ _looking down?!"_ Stardust yelled, but then, the fourth chime (and friend) made its arrival.

 _DING! Poof!_

Rainbow appeared underneath Sunset and Rarity, and she immediately went over to the hour hand, getting a tight grip on it.

"Is Stardust up there?" exclaimed Rainbow, stretching her neck out to look up at the top of the clock hand.

" _Yeah, I'm here! Are you okay, Rainbow?"_ Stardust asked, looking down at his friend.

She nodded her head, and yelled, "Star, I'm sorry that-"

 _DING! Poof!_

Applejack was next, and Rainbow quickly grabbed onto one of her hands, pulling her towards herself and the clock hand. " _I got you_!"

" _Phew,_ thanks a bunch, sugarcube," said Applejack, but then, a strong gust of wind appeared, and it ended up blowing her Stetson hat away.

 _"No!"_ The hard-working teenager tried to grab it, but the wind had already taken it far away from her.

 _DING! Poof!_

When Pinkie Pie appeared, she looked from side to side, and when she found herself looking down, the young teen let out a scream of fright, and grabbed onto whatever was in front of her.

" _Pinkie... not so... tightly..._ " gasped Stardust, as his friend gave him a bone-crushing bear hug.

 _DING! Poof!_

Starlight arrived at the seventh charm, and appeared next to Twilight, whom she quickly grabbed onto.

"It'll be okay, Starlight," said the young princess, who noticed that her friend was starting to tremble with fear. "Just don't look-"

 _DING! Poof!_

Spike appeared at the very top of the hand, slightly above Casey, and Stardust asked, "You alright, bro?"

The young dragon-turned-dog nodded his head. "Yeah, but where are-"

 _DING! Poof!_

Stardust looked to the side, and he said, "You've _got_ to be kidding me..."

"Hello, to you, too, Jackie," said Discord (also now a human being), who was hovering in front of Stardust, and one of his hands was holding a _Mary Poppins_ umbrella. "Having fun up here?"

 _DING!_

" _Not_ in the mood right now, _Discord!_ " Stardust yelled, while Fluttershy was opening her eyes to look at her friend. "Can you just help us out?"

"Why, certainly, Stardusk," replied the master of Chaos, and he snapped his fingers, which caused the hour hand to temporarily disappear.

 _DING!_

" _Discord! That's_ _ **not**_ _helping!"_ Stardust yelled, his temper starting to rise. " _Put that ba... aaaauuugghhhh!_ "

One by one, all of the ponies-turned-humans, plus one dog, started their descent from three hundred and fifteen feet.

 _"Starswirl!"_ screamed Stardust, closing his eyes. " _Help us ou-_ "

 _DING! Poof!_

Everyone suddenly disappeared, and then, they all reappeared on top of the grass-covered ground.

Pinkie lifted her head up, with her eyes spinning around in a circle, and she asked, "Can we do that again?"

" _Ugh... pass..._ " moaned Sunset, who felt like she had a headache.

Spike was rubbing his head, feeling dizzy, and suddenly felt himself being hugged by Rarity, much to his pleasure. "Oh, _thank goodness_ you're safe, Spikey Wikey."

Applejack sat herself up, and let out a groan as she asked, "Pinkie, why in tarnation would ya do something like that _again_?"

While Pinkie shrugged her shoulders, Twilight and Stardust walked over to Casey, helping him up, and the alicorn-turned-human said, "I sure hope your Twilight isn't too worried about you."

"No, she'll be fine," replied Casey, rubbing the back of his neck. "And she was going to come, but-"

" _Hello, everypony_ ," sang Discord, who was making his way down via black umbrella. "Oh, wait, _everyone_..."

Stardust frowned, and he pointed up at the clock. "That was _not_ what I meant by helping us, Discord."

"But aren't you all safely on the ground now?" asked the spirit of disharmony, tilting his head to the side.

Stardust let out sounds of frustration, and was ready to argue with him some more, but then, Fluttershy appeared, and she did not look happy.

" _Discord,_ you could've seriously hurt all of us if Starswirl wasn't in Star's head. What were you thinking?"

Discord gulped, not wanting the one po-person he cared for the most to be upset with him. "I was only trying to help out, Fluttershy, and I wouldn't have let harm come to anyone... _maybe_ just a _little_ to Stardust, but-"

"I _heard_ that," growled an annoyed Stardust.

Fluttershy glared at Discord, and sternly told him, "Well, do _not_ ever do _anything_ like that again. Understand?"

"Perfectly, Fluttershy," replied Discord, nodding his head, while Stardust rolled his eyes.

 _Jack, may I suggest we find a place to discuss how to get back home?_

While Twilight and Casey were talking to the others, checking to see if they were all okay, Stardust was having a telepathic conversation with Starswirl.

 _I'm guessing that means you won't be able to take us home?_

 _Not this time, Jack,_ replied the ancient pony. _It must be done-_

 _By me and the others,_ thought Stardust, letting out a sigh. _Got it._

Once everyone knew that everybody was okay, Stardust said, "Alright, everyone, we have to look for a place that we can talk about how to get back to Equestria."

"Well, lead the way, darling," replied Rarity. "This _is_ your home world, correct?"

"I mean, technically, yes," said Stardust, who was now rubbing the back of his head. "But I don't actually _live_ in this city, so-"

" _Ooh_ , how about that place?" interrupted Pinkie Pie, who was pointing at a building that was a mile away from them.

Stardust smiled, and gave the party-loving teenager a pat on the back. "That looks fine... nice work, Pinkie."

 _Squee!_

Pinkie just smiled back at Stardust, who then started leading his friends to their new destination.

* * *

A few minutes later, they were all about to cross the street, and walk into the building that was called _My Village Cafe,_ but Rarity suddenly let out a scream from out of nowhere.

" _What? What is it?"_ Stardust asked, fearing that something bad had happened.

"I look... look... _gorgeous_ ," said Rarity, who was looking at her reflection via the clear-glass building in front of them, and Stardust brought the palm of his hand to his forehead.

She was wearing a white lace blouse, along with dark blue _AG_ slim straight leg jeans, a pair of _Liz Caliborne_ flats, and a hair-clip version of her Cutie Mark.

"But what's this supposed to be?" wondered Rarity, looking at her hands, as well as touching the sides of her face.

"To make a long explanation short, Rarity, it's your _skin_ ," answered Stardust. "But you also look like you have fair skin, which means that even though I admit that you look lovely, you can't exactly be under the sun for a long period of time, or you'll end up almost as red as the apples on AJ's trees."

Applejack tried covering up her laughter, while Rarity frowned at Stardust, and the hard-working teenager looked at her own reflection.

She was wearing a white undershirt, along with a halfway buttoned-up, orange-colored plaid shirt, light brown and leather Western boots from _Shyanne_ , and light-blue, slim straight leg jeans from _Levi's,_ as well as a brown belt that had a row of stiched-on apples.

Casey felt his mouth almost about to drop, but when he noticed that Stardust was looking at him, he sheepishly closed it, and said, "Sorry."

"Are you okay, AJ?" Twilight asked, seeing that her friend didn't look entirely pleased with her new appearance.

Applejack sighed, and she replied, "Yeah, I'm fine, sugarcube, but... I just wish I had my hat with me."

Before Twilight could say anything to comfort her, Pinkie Pie giggled, and said, "Okay, me next, me next!"

She was wearing a pink shirt that had her Cutie Mark on the front, and the same type of jeans as Applejack, as well as a pair of pink Chuck Taylor Dainty Casual sneakers from _Converse._

For Fluttershy, who had chosen herself to be next, she was wearing a _White Mark_ fit and flare yellow dress that had a design of her Cutie Mark on the side, as well as a comfortable pair of slip-on sneakers from _Steve Madden_.

"My, my?,, Fluttershy, you certainly look very wonderful," commented Discord, which caused her to slightly blush.

"Thank you, Discord... and you, um, look very-"

Before she could finish, Stardust chuckled, and he said, "He looks like someone's father."

Discord frowned, and he glared at the amused teenager, saying, "I may have limited magical abilities, Stardust, but that doesn't mean I am unable to-"

"Alright, simmer down, you two," interrupted Applejack, stepping in between them. "No need to cause a ruckus or anything."

"He started it..." said Stardust, but then, he paused after noticing Rainbow's saddened expression.

The athletic pony-turned-teenager was wearing a pair of sky-blue _KanCan_ skinny stretch slim jeans, _Nike Flex_ running shoes, and a black shirt that had her Cutie Mark on the front, as well as a blue _Old Navy_ French-terry hoodie, but Rainbow didn't really seem to be all that interested in how she looked.

"You okay?" Stardust asked, in a concerned tone, and Rainbow nodded her head.

"I just... want to, uh, say that I'm sorry for all that stuff I said to you back in Equestria. Anti-You was right when he said that I was foolish into-"

Stardust smirked at his friend, and he shook his head. "Nuh-uh, don't let him get to you, Rainbow... it's fine, you don't have to worry about it, and I'm not mad at you or anything like that."

Rainbow gave him a small smile in return, but Stardust could sense that she wasn't entirely forgiven with herself just yet.

 _I'll work on that later once we get back home._

"Um, not to sound rude, Stardust, but maybe we should be heading over to that place Pinkie found?" suggested Starlight.

Stardust nodded his head, and said, "Yes, you're right, Starlight... okay, everyone, let's go-"

"Um, Jack?"

The young man looked at his girlfriend, who looked like she was waiting for someone to say something. "Yes, love?"

"How do I look?" Twilight asked, and Stardust took a moment to observe his special someone, and was at a loss for words after realizing how beautiful she looked as an actual human being.

 _Can you feel the love tonight?_

 _The peace the evening brings_

The young princess, like Rarity, also had fair skin, and she was wearing a _Lyss Loo_ flowy, long sleeve purple top with cutout-shoulder design that hugged her curves, as well as a pair of _slim fit_ jeans from _H &M_, slipper-like shoes from _ALDO_ , and had two hair clips.

 _The world, for once, in perfect harmony_

 _With all its living things_

One of them was her Cutie Mark, while the other was a purple _French Barrette_ hair clip that resembled her alicorn wings.

 _Can you feel the love tonight?_

 _You needn't look too far_

"So... um..." Twilight said, who also blushing heavily from Stardust's speechless stare.

 _Stealing through the night's uncertain-_

" _Ahem!_ " Rarity cleared her throat, and coughed a few times, which made Stardust blink a few times before finally being able to speak again.

"Twilight... love... you are the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen... a perfect goddess..."

Twilight's blush increased even more, while some of their friends rolled their eyes, and before Stardust could say more, he was interrupted by Pinkie Pie, who had already gone into the cafe.

" _Hey, everyone, come in here! This place is awesome!_ "

Stardust was about to speak, but then, the _Walk_ stoplight turned on, and everyone began crossing the street.

" _Very_ smooth talkin' there, Star," Applejack said, crossing her arms, and smirking at her friend. "Ya took that long to come up with somethin' like that?"

Stardust just grumbled under his breath, and Applejack chuckled. "I'm just teasin' ya, Star, I know how strong your feelings are for Twilight."

"Yeah, well..." replied a minor-embarrassed Stardust. "One of these days, her beauty is gonna be the death of me."


	7. The Chase is On

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 7 - The Chase is On_

 _Author's Note - "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

The first question that everyone was asked once they all sat at a table was - _"Would anyone like something to drink?"_

"Some glasses of water, please?" Stardust said, and the elderly waitress nodded her head before walking away.

Then, the young man looked at his friends, and said, "Okay, so let's see if we're all on the same page here. We're all seemingly trapped here..."

"By an evil version of Stardust," said Casey, pointing at a drawing that Pinkie had done on a piece of scrap paper. "He's taken control of Twilight's castle..."

"Along with alternate versions of me, AJ, Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity," added Twilight. "And I'm betting that it won't be long until they decide to-"

"Pull a Sunset, and try to take over the minds of everypony else?" finished Discord, and he quickly gave the young teenager an apologetic look. "Sorry."

Sunset rolled her eyes, and she replied, " _None taken_... so, the big question is - how are we supposed to get home?"

Pinkie began jumping up and down in her seat, and said, " _Ooh, ooh,_ maybe Starswirl the Bearded can use his magic like he used it to take Stardust away from us momentarily after Twilight had finished her battle with Tirek-"

Casey's skin color started to turn a little pale.

"- as well as to the world that Sunset lives at, helping our other selves from _that_ world defeat a trio of power-craving sirens that used their vocal abilities to-"

Stardust held up his hands, and he exclaimed, " _Okay_ , Pinkie, I get it... no need to recap all of that stuff... and, unfortunately, Starswirl is on _silent mode_ right now."

"Uh, what does that mean exactly?" asked Applejack.

"That he won't talk to me until we've figured out on our own how to get back home," replied Stardust. "Usually it's so that we can learn a type of lesson from this sort of..."

As he continued explaining to Applejack, Twilight noticed that a beautiful, blonde-haired, and middle-aged woman was having trouble getting out of the door because her hands were full with a stack of cardboard boxes.

"Can... someone... please help - oh, thank you," said the kind woman, giving Twilight a grateful smile because the alicorn-turned-human had opened the door for her. "I have a 3 hour drive to get from here to Leeds, and-"

She paused after noticing one of Twilight's hair clips. "Aw, that's a lovely clip you have in your hair... looks exactly like the one that-"

 _HONK!_

 _"I'm coming, alright?"_ exclaimed the beautiful woman, and she gave Twilight an apologetic look. "Sorry about that, my friends are a little crazy. Thanks again!"

As she headed out of the cafe, Twilight was smiling, having felt good about helping out the kind stranger. _She sure sounded familiar, though, for some reason._

Then, Twilight began to head back over to her friends, but she suddenly heard a strange sound nearby. "What was that?"

Twilight walked over to the other side of the cafe, and bent down to pick up a small object on the ground.

However, it didn't come off right away, and Twilight frowned while continuing to try picking it up. " _Come... on... you... little..._ "

Suddenly, her focus was interrupted by the sounds of a wolf-whistle, and Twilight stood up to look at a large group of guys who were all sitting at a table.

They all appeared to be the same age - more or less - as Stardust, and one of them said, "I was _wondering_ how long it would take for one of you lovely ladies to make your way over here... and, from this angle, it looks like we're off to a fresh start."

"Um... _okay_ ," said a confused Twilight, not knowing what he was talking about.

"Oh, yeah, she's real special there, Johnny," muttered one of the young man's friends.

Johnny glared at him, and exclaimed, "Hey, you mind shutting your trap, pal? You'll get your chance with one of the other ones."

Then, he turned his attention back to Twilight, and gave her a dashing smile. "Don't mind them, they're all idiots... so, um, how would you feel about me and you taking a walk over to the movie theater a few blocks away?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, but..." replied Twilight, who nodded her head over at Stardust. "I'm with my friends, and one of them is my special somepony... I mean, er, boyfriend."

Unfortunately, one of the guys had heard Twilight's mistake, and he began to laugh. "Oh, my gosh, Johnny, she's one of those _pegasissy_ fans that are obsessed with that one show called-"

"It's _pegasister_ , and the show is called _My Little Pony_ ," finished Stardust, taking notice of the fact that Twilight hadn't returned to her seat. "And I would appreciate it if you all left my girlfriend alone."

However, after taking a look at Stardust, Johnny felt like his chance wasn't gone just yet. "Aw, we weren't doing her any harm, brah... in fact, I was close to convincing her to go out with me."

"I highly doubt that," retorted the unamused teenager, and he began to lead Twilight away, but then, she tried again in picking up the small object from the floor.

Stardust chuckled, and he said, "It's just a plain old penny, love, there is no-"

"Yeah, Johnny, you were right, she's a real beauty," replied one of the young man's friends, who then let out a wolf-whistle.

As Twilight stood back up, Stardust gritted his teeth in frustration after realizing what they were all doing, and said, "You'd better be glad I don't knock your [BEEP] teeth down your damn throat, [BEEP]."

The young man he'd spoken to stood up, and walked over to Stardust, but Johnny motioned for him to stay back. "No need for that type of language around my friends, man... you'd best apologize to him."

"Go [BEEP] yourself, sick pervert," growled Stardust, and he continued with bringing Twilight away, but then, all of the guys stood up, except for Johnny, who was still sitting, and no longer smiling.

"What the hell did you just say to me?"

Stardust looked at Johnny, and said, "You heard me... _go_ [BEEP] yourself... get the picture?"

Instead of replying, the young man stood up, and Stardust noticed that Johnny was actually a few feet taller than him. _Oh, [BEEP] he's tall!_

" _Hey, is there a problem over here_?"

Applejack was making her way over to Stardust, followed by the rest of their friends, and Johnny gave her a mischievous grin. "Oh, with a pair like that, cowgirl, you'll do _real nicely_ with-"

" _Alright, that's it_ ," exclaimed Stardust, and he prepared to deliver a solid punch to Johnny's jaw, but the young man swiftly blocked it by catching Stardust's fist with his own muscular hand.

 _Sheesh, his hand is like a damn baseball glove!_ thought Stardust.

"Now, you listen here, _pal_ ," growled Johnny, who was no longer smiling. "We're gonna have our fun with these ladies, and you-"

"Well, you forgot about one thing," interrupted Stardust, and he pointed at something behind Johnny. " _What the hell is that_?"

Johnny turned around, and Stardust quickly his body strength to shove him into the young man's friends, with all of them falling down to the ground.

 _Jack, now would be a good time to run._

 **[Insert "Skateboard Chase" by Alan Silvestri]**

Stardust nodded his head, and said, "Alright, everyone, we're leaving."

"But we haven't had lunch yet!" Pinkie cried.

As Johnny and the rest of his gang started to get back up, Stardust exclaimed, "Pinkie, trust me on this. We are leaving NOW!"

The group of friends quickly ran out of the cafe, while Johnny let out a frustrated growl, and yelled, " _Get him!_ "

* * *

Stardust and Twilight were leading their friends away from the cafe, but then, Applejack stopped after seeing a familiar object laying on the sidewalk across the street.

" _My hat_!"

So, the young teenager ran over to grab it, but just as she was about to reach her hat, the wind picked up again, and started blowing it away from her grasp.

" _Oh, no you don't, you get back here_!"

As Applejack chased after her Stetson hat, Stardust noticed that she was running away from them. " _AJ! We have to_ -"

" _There you are, asshole_!" Stardust turned around, and saw that Johnny was quickly approaching them.

" _We'll find her later, Star, let's just worry about_ _ **not**_ _getting beat up by those creeps_!" exclaimed Rainbow, having finally spoken ever since apologizing to him.

Johnny turned his head to see the alluring cowgirl running after a brown hat, and he nodded at a few of his friends, who all started to go after Applejack.

"So, what's the plan, Stardust?" asked Starlight.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," exclaimed Stardust, quickly looking around to see where they could all hide. "Um... we can... oh, wait... Pinkie!"

The party-loving teenager looked over at Stardust, and cried, " _Yeah?_ "

"Do you happen to have a beaded necklace or something like that with you?"

Twilight looked at her boyfriend like she was crazy. "What good would _that_ do?"

"Trust me, love," replied Stardust, as Pinkie handed him the necklace. " _Discord_! I need your help, too!"

* * *

After several minutes of chasing Stardust and the others, Johnny and the rest of his gang turned the corner, and to their surprise, none of them were anywhere to be seen.

"Where the _hell_ did they _go_?"

However, before any of his friends could say anything to him, they all found themselves tripping over a large and scattered pile of beads, and to make matters worse, the street was suddenly very slippery, like a bowling lane.

It caused Johnny and his friends to slide down the street, and they all ended up crashing into a rather big wheelbarrow, which surprisingly broke into a million pieces, releasing its contents on top of them.

A few feet away, Stardust and the others silently laughing to themselves, as well as being unseen by anyone, thanks to Discord's limited yet very helpful magic.

"Where'd you get the idea for all of that stuff?" whispered Rainbow.

Stardust chuckled, and he replied, "From a couple of movies I've seen."

 _"Blegh! I_ _ **hate**_ _manure!"_ Johnny exclaimed, and Stardust tried his best to hold in his laughter.

* * *

Even though she'd lost her pursuers, and had spent quite some time chasing her precious hat, Applejack was not going to give up. "You'd better stop right now, missy, before I-".

 _Whoosh!_

The wind blew the hat into the nearest open-door building (a banquet hall), and Applejack ran inside after it. "Don't you walk away from me!"

She continued chasing after the hat, and once it landed on the ground, Applejack was about to pick it up, but then, someone else beat her to it.

"Is this yours, m'am?"

Her hat had been picked up by a well-dressed elderly man that was wearing his own Stetson hat.

"Yep, and I've been runnin' like a starving pig ready for supper tryin' to get it back," replied Applejack, who was taking several deep breaths. "Thank you for stopping it, sir."

"No problem, m'am," said the elderly man, smiling at her kindly. "And you can call me Bucky."

Applejack chuckled, and she said, "Okay, thank you, Bucky, and I... um..."

She found herself speechless after looking around, and realized where she was at.

"I take it you've never been the annual ' _come one, come all'_ MacGuffin Country Jamboree Hoedown?" Bucky said, noticing that Applejack was no longer speaking.

As she looked at the rest of the country-and-western dressed people in the main hall, which was included with a stage for the country band, Applejack shook her head. "No, siree..."

"Well, then, welcome to your very first one," said Bucky, giving her a pat on the back.

* * *

"You _sure_ you saw Applejack run this way?"

Stardust nodded his head, and said, "I'm _positive_ , Fluttershy... AJ was chasing after her ha-"

 _"Aaaaaauuuggghhh!"_

Everyone turned around, looking at Rarity, who was facing the front of a t.v. store, and Stardust groaned. "We _get_ it, you're gorgeous."

Rarity shook her head, and gasped, " _It's not my reflection, Stardust... look._ "

As he walked over to her, Stardust rolled his eyes, and said, "Okay, I'm not in the mood to... see... oh... _my_... _God_..."

 _[My Little Pony!_

 _I used to wonder what friendship could be!_

 _My Little Pony!_

 _Until you all shared that magic with me.]_

While the others made their way over to see what was playing on the t.v. in front of Rarity, Stardust slapped his forehead again, and muttered, "Oh, great, just my damn luck... well, at least we're not watching _Equestria Girls_."

* * *

It had taken a few minor yet failed attempts, but Applejack was now socializing with the other people who were there for the celebration.

"Howdy there, nice to meet ya," greeted the young teenager, greeting several of the newly-arrived guests. "My name's Ap-"

 _"What?!"_

Applejack turned around, and saw Bucky on top of the stage, having a conversation with the band, but he did not look happy.

"Hold that thought... pardon," said the pony-turned-human, and she hurried over to help her new friend with whatever was going on. "What's the issue here, Bucky?"

"Oh, it's just _terrible_ , AJ," exclaimed the elderly gentleman. "The headlining singer that I _paid_ to come here bailed on all of us, and now there's no one here to kick off the musical performances."

Applejack looked at the attendees of the jamboree hoedown, and nodded her head, knowing what she had to do. "Well, it's a good thing I'm here, Bucky, cause I sing plenty where I come fro-"

" _Really, AJ? You'll sing for us?"_ Bucky said, with hope in his eyes. "I'll gladly pay you for it."

Applejack smiled, and shook her head, saying, "I sure do appreciate it, Bucky, but that won't be necessary... just tell me what I gotta sing, and I'll do it for ya."

Hearing that from the young teenager, Bucky pumped his fist in the air, and said, " _Yes_! Alright, AJ, it'll take a few minutes before you start performing so that I can teach you the dance moves and memorize the lyrics. You think you can handle all of it?"

Applejack smirked at Bucky, and she replied, "Yessir, I believe I can... just let me know what I gotta do."

* * *

Sometime later, once the grand room was full of guests, Bucky was handed a microphone, and he said, " _Allllll right, everyone, it's time to kick this off with a BANG_!"

The audience quickly gave their applause, and once they stopped, Bucky said, "Now, I _did_ have someone else in mind to get us started, but for some reason, he couldn't make it..."

 _"Booooo!"_

Bucky chuckled, and he replied, "Yeah, I know, it's terrible, but don't y'all get yourself heated up like a whistling teapot, ya hear? Cause luckily, I was able to get a lovely lil' lady to take his place-"

 _"Yeaaaaahhhh!"_

"Now, _that's_ what I want to hear from all of y'all," shouted an energetic Bucky. "So, do me a favor, y'all, and give a _great_ round of applause for a young lady that comes from, _S.A. Acres_... it's _AJ_!"

He quickly left the stage, revealing that Applejack was behind him, and she brought herself over to the microphone, saying, "Um... howdy, y'all, my name is AJ, and I'm ready to start this here hoedown. What about y'all?"

The audience gave their applaudic response, and Applejack grinned, saying, "I thought so."

She turned back to look at the band behind her, with everyone giving her a thumbs up, and Applejack nodded her head before she started to sing.

 _Boom clap_

 _Boom de clap de clap_

 _Boom-boom clap_

 _Boom de clap de clap_

 _Boom-boom clap_

 _Boom de clap de clap_

 _Boom-boom clap_

 _Boom de clap de clap_

 _Try it with me, here we go!_

 _Boom-boom clap_

 _Boom de clap de clap_

 _That's right!_

 _Boom de clap de clap_

 _Boom-boom clap_

 _Boom de clap de clap_

 _"1-2-3, everybody, come on off your seats!"_ exclaimed Applejack, who was now full of positive energy. "I'm gonna tell you bout a beat... that's gonna make you move your feet!"

 _I'll give the barbecue,_

 _Show and tell you how to move,_

 _If you're 5 or 82,_

 _This is something you can do._

 _Pop it, lock it, polka-dot it_

 _Countrify it then hip-hop it._

 _Put your hawk in the sky,_

 _And move side-to-side._

 _Jump to the left, stick it, glide._

 _Zig-zag, across the floor_

 _Shuffle in diagonal,_

 _When the drum hits, hands on your hips._

 _One-footed, 180 twist._

 _Then a zig-zag, step slide_

 _Lean it left, clap 3 times_

 _Shake it out, head to toe_

 _Throw it all together, that's how we roll._

 _Do the hoedown (t_ _hrowdown) [x3]_

 _Throw it all together, that's how we roll._

While she took a momentary pause, Stardust, Twilight, and Spike, as well as Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Starlight, Sunset, and Discord had all entered the Main Hall.

"Alright, so how in Equestria are we going to find her, darling?" asked Rarity.

 _We get to 4, 5, 6_

 _And you're feeling busted,_

 _But it's not time to quit,_

 _Practice makes you perfect._

Spike pointed one of his paws at the stage, and said, "Um, that seems pretty easy to me."

Everyone looked to where he was pointing at, and were surprised to see Applejack performing a song!

 _Pop it, lock it, polka-dot it_

 _Countrify it then hip-hop it_

 _Put your hawk in the sky,_

 _And move it side-to-side._

 _Jump to the left, stick it, glide._

 _Zig-zag, cross the floor_

 _Shuffle in diagonal,_

 _When the drum hits, hands on your hips._

 _One-footed, 180 twist._

 _Then a zig-zag, step slide_

 _Lean it left, clap 3 times_

 _Shake it out, head to toe_

 _Throw it all together, that's how we roll._

 _Do the hoedown (throwdown) [x3]_

 _Throw it all together, that's how we roll._

" _Hey_!" Stardust yelled, noticing that Rainbow was running away from them. "Where are you going?"

"There's _food_ here, Star," answered Rainbow, who was also rubbing her stomach. "I'm getting myself a plate of it real quick... then, I'm gonna dance with everyone else."

As she headed over to the nearby buffet, Stardust sighed, and continued with listening to his close friend sing.

 _Boom de clap de clap,_

 _Boom-boom clap._

 _Come on, here we go._

 _Boom-Boom clap,_

 _Boom de clap de clap._

 _Boom-Boom clap,_

 _Boom de clap._

 _Pop it, lock it, polka-dot it_

 _Countrify it then hip-hop it_

 _Put your hawk in the sky,_

 _And move it side-to-side._

 _Jump to the left, stick it, glide._

 _Zig-zag, across the floor_

 _Shuffle in diagonal,_

 _When the drum hits, hands on your hips._

 _One-footed, 180 twist._

 _Then a zig-zag, step slide_

 _Lean it left, clap 3 times_

 _Shake it out, head to toe_

 _Throw it all together, that's how we roll._

 _Do the hoedown (throwdown) [x3]_

 _Throw it all together, that's how we roll._

 _Do the hoedown (throwdown) [x3]_

 _Throw it all together, that's how we roll._

Then, to Stardust's surprise, almost all of friends had joined the rest of the guests, except for himself, Spike, and Twilight.

"I'm fine just watching her from right here," said the dragon-turned-dog.

Stardust looked at Twilight, and he said, "You honestly don't think-"

Twilight let out a giggle, and said, ""No, of course not, Jack, but look at how happy she is up there."

Stardust did just that, and he started to feel very relieved of the fact that Rowan hadn't killed her.

"Well?"

"Okay, _fine,_ I'll try to dance to this," said Stardust, rolling his eyes, and grabbing one of Twilight's hand to lead her to the dance floor, with Spike wishing them good luck.

 _Pop it, lock it, polka-dot it_

 _Countrify it then hip-hop it_

 _Put your hawk in the sky,_

 _And move it side-to-side._

 _Jump to the left, stick it, glide._

 _Zig-zag, across the floor_

 _Shuffle in diagonal,_

 _When the drum hits, hands on your hips._

 _One-footed, 180 twist._

 _Then a zig-zag, step slide_

 _Lean it left, clap 3 times_

 _Shake it out, head to toe_

 _Throw it all together, that's how we roll._

 _Boom dap clap, ba-boom dap clapclapclap_

 _Boom bap clap, ba-boom da clapclapclap_

 _Boom da clap, boom de clap de clap_

 _Throw it all together, that's how we roll._


	8. Stardust's Mistake, Part 1

**My Little Pony: Good vs Evil**

 _Chapter 8 - Stardust's Mistake, Part 1_

 _Author's Note - "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _(Stardust's World_ )

"You sure Stardust is gonna accept this _get well_ cake?" Scootaloo asked, sounding unsure.

Applebloom nodded her head, and replied, "Of course, he will... I just wish we could've had Pinkie's help in making this."

The two of them, along with Sweetie Belle, were on their way over to Twilight's castle because they wanted to give Stardust a _"Get Well"_ cake after having seen Granny Smith nearly beat the hay out of him yesterday.

"I don't think your sister is going to be happy when she sees you giving a cake to the pony that destroyed your family's farm," pointed out Sweetie Belle, but Applebloom disagreed with her.

"My sis ain't mad at him for that, Sweetie Belle, she's just a lil' disappointed in him."

Scootaloo became confused, and he asked, "Uh, what's the difference?"

"That he... I... _sweet sour apples_..."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had finally reached Twilight's castle, but there was something different about it.

"I don't remember seeing it like this yesterday," said Scootaloo, looking at the castle up and down. "And why did Twilight go from purple to black?"

Applebloom chuckled, and she answered, "Aw, shucks, they're probably just gettin' a head start on Nightmare Night. It ain't too far away from here."

The three of them entered the castle, and Sweetie Belle started to shiver a little. "I don't remember Twilight ever having her castle be _this_ cold before."

"Like I said, _preparation_ ," reminded Applebloom, rubbing her limbs to try and create warmth. "Besides, it's not like-"

 _"Well, isn't this a surprise?"_

The three small ponies looked up, and saw Anti-Stardust walking down the staircase.

However, he was back to looking like his other self, and for the moment, Anti-Stardust was successfully fooling the CMC's.

"Howdy, Star," greeted Applebloom, a smile on her face. "You look like you're doing okay."

"Yes, terrific," replied Anti-Stardust, with a dry tone in his voice. "And what's with the cake?"

Applebloom slowly pushed the wheeled tray towards him, and said, "It's for you, Star... a _Get Well_ cake!"

"Well, _actually,_ it's a bunch of those brownies that you love so much turned _into_ a cake," pointed out Scootaloo, which caused Applebloom to glare at her. "What?"

Anti-Stardust smirked at the group of little ponies, and he said, "I appreciate your showing of concern for me, Applebloom."

He then proceeded to walk away, but the little sister of Rarity asked, "Don't you want to see if you like it first?"

 _You've got to be kidding me right now._

"Why wouldn't he? It's made out of his brownies," reminded Scootaloo.

Anti-Stardust did his best to smile, and he said, "Of course, my apologies... but if it's alright with you, I'd like to get some _things_ from the kitchen that I can bring over here to successfully enjoy this cake."

AJ's little sister nodded her head, and replied, "Sure thing, Star! We ain't goin' anywhere anytime soon."

Anti-Stardust nodded his head, but after turning around, and walking down the hall, he rolled his eyes. _Worthless piece of garbage._

Once he was gone, Scootaloo said, "Um, was it me, or did Stardust not seem like... himself?"

"Well, _duh_ , of course he's like that," replied Applebloom. "He's been pummeled by Granny Smith, whacked a bunch of times by Rarity, and-"

However, the young pony stopped her sentence after they had heard a familiar voice come from the Throne Room.

 _"You'd_ _ **better**_ _not [BEEP] screw this up, Pinkie!"_

Scootaloo's eyes almost popped out of her head after she had heard that. "Was that...?"

"Alright, just take a breather there, Scootaloo," assured Applebloom. "I'm sure that Rainbow is just having a bad day."

Scootaloo frowned, and she replied, "Rainbow would _never_ say... uh... whatever Star usually says from time to time."

Before Applebloom could respond to that, Sweetie Belle began pushing them towards the door, and said, "Well, don't just _stand_ there, you two, let's find out what's going on."

When they were close enough to the entrance, the CMC's quietly began to eavesdrop on their friends' conversation.

###################

"What are you getting mad at _me_ for?" Anti-Pinkie asked, sitting in her counterpart's throne, as well as the rest of her friends. "And plus, you should be _happy_ to be here after all of that complaining you did back home."

Anti-Rainbow gritted her teeth in frustration, and exclaimed, "I _will_ be as long as [BEEP] like _you_ don't screw this up for the rest of us!"

As Anti-Pinkie crouched down in her seat, Anti-Applejack rolled her eyes, and said, "You know, the _whole_ point of _blending_ in, Crash, is so that everyone else thinks _we're_ our other selves."

"Yeah, yeah, just like Star is doing by pretending to be the _good_ him," replied Anti-Rainbow, frowning. "And?"

Anti-Rarity sighed, and she said, "Well, you're not exactly doing a perfect job at it, darling."

"Oh, [BEEP] off, Rarity, I know what I'm doing," yelled Anti-Rainbow, with Anti-Rarity also feeling afraid of her. "Besides, it's not like any of _you_ ponies are doing any better."

"Well, I reckon that I'm doin' _just_ fine pretending to be AJ," replied Anti-Applejack. "And I only got to say _one_ lie this time, which is that I'm Applejack."

As Anti-Pinkie nodded her head in agreement, Anti-Rainbow muttered, "Let's just make sure that _none_ of our other selves return from wherever the hell Star sent them."

##################

The CMC's quickly backed away from the doors, and they all had looks of horror on their faces.

"Rainbow... _no_..." gasped Scootaloo.

Applebloom gulped, and she said, "My... sister..."

As for Sweetie Belle, she tried to remain optimistic. "Well, she _does_ sound a lot like my sister..."

Applebloom rolled her eyes, and cried, "Sweetie Belle, this is no time to be positive! We gotta warn somepony about this!"

 _"Oh, my... what a terrible,_ _ **terrible**_ _turn of events."_

The CMC's turned around, and saw (who they assumed was) "Anti-Twilight", as well as Anti-Stardust, who was no longer in disguise.

"That's one ugly scar over his eye," whispered Sweetie Belle.

"What did you do to them?" Applebloom asked, with an angry expression on her face.

Anti-Stardust laughed, and he shook his head, saying, "You're asking the _wrong_ question, little pony..."

He raised up one of his hooves, which started to surround itself with dark energy, and smiled in a sinister way at the three of them. "It _should_ be what am I going to do to the three of _you_."

Applebloom frowned, and she said, "I ain't scared of you, Fake Stardust, and just wait till I- _ulp_!"

Having heard enough from the small pony, Anti-Stardust grabbed Applebloom, bringing her up close to his face while Twilight's other self was holding onto Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo by their tails, preventing them from helping her.

" _Are you scared now_?" He asked, and the little pony nodded her head. " _I thought so._ "

* * *

As Applejack led Twilight and the rest of her friends out of the Banquet Hall, she swiped away some of the sweat on her forehead.

" _Whoo-weee..._ I ain't ever done nothing like _that_ for a while," she said, referring to her country song performance. "I can't wait to show that to the others once we get back home."

Stardust let out a laugh, and he said, "I hate to break it to you, AJ, but... I'm pretty sure that dance is only meant to be done by humans."

"Oh, ho, is _that_ what you think?" replied Applejack, looking at her friend. "Well, if I could, Star, what would you do?"

"Your chores for an entire week," said Stardust, smirking at her while also crossing his arms. _I_ _ **really**_ _miss doing this kind of stuff._

While Twilight rolled her eyes, Applejack nodded her head, and she offered him a handshake, which Stardust accepted.

"I'm ah remember you said that, Star," chuckled the young mare-turned-teenager.

Stardust laughed again, and he said, "You can remember all you want, AJ, but I-"

"Um, Star?" Pinkie interrupted, who had crossed her legs together, and was bouncing up and down several times. "I have to use the little pony's room."

"It's a _women's_ restroom, Pinkie," corrected Stardust, shaking his head. "And why didn't you go at the cafe?"

Pinkie thought about it for a moment, and said, "Well, we _were_ chased by a lot of inappropriate guys that tried to-"

"Point taken," replied Stardust, and he looked at Starlight. "You mind taking her to the restroom in that building over there real quick?"

Twilight's pupil nodded her head, and she walked over to Pinkie. "Okay, let's - _whoa_!"

The pony-turned-human teenage girl grabbed one of Starlight's hand, and raced over to the building as fast as possible.

"Why would you ask Starlight to go with Pinkie, darling?" Rarity wondered.

"Because Lord knows how much trouble she'd cause on her own in this world," explained Stardust. "And the last thing we need is for some kind of weird-"

 _Whoosh!_

Then, from out of nowhere, Stardust was engulfed in a bright flash of light, and he was gone after it went away.

" _Jack_!" Twilight yelled, looking afraid, but after turning her head to look at Discord, her expression was now an angry one.

"What? I didn't do anything!"

Before the young princess could start to argue with him, the same bright light surrounded her and everyone else, and after it flashed brightly, they were all gone.

* * *

" _Where the hell are we now?_ " groaned Stardust, and then, he felt his loved one's arms around him. "It's fine, love, we were just... transported somewhere else...

They were all now in some type of place that contained multiple versions of clocks, from grandfather to mantel, and everyone looked at Discord, who rolled his eyes.

"Oh, come on, you can't really think that _I_ had anything to do with this!"

Stardust opened his mouth to say something, but stopped after hearing an unfamiliar voice speak.

 _"It wasn't Discord that brought you here..."_

The group of nine friends turned around, and saw that it had came from an elderly man, wearing a white-and-black hooded cloak that was stitched with designs of crescent moons and five pointed stars, as well as holding a wooden staff that had a Roman Numerial-numbered clock placed on the top.

"Um, who are _you_ supposed to be?" Applejack asked.

The elderly man gestured to all of the clocks around them, and said, "My name is Kronos. I am the one who makes sure every world and universe is in its rightful place, every timeline is in natural order, and that no one strays too far away from their destined path."

He then gave the group a closer look at his staff. "If something is amiss, I simply go to the point in time when the problem started, and help guide that person or animal into making the right decision."

"But I thought our future wasn't set in stone," said a confused Sunset. "Does that mean it's already planned out for everyone we know, including ourselves?"

Kronos shook his head, and explained, "No, my dear... the future is what you make of it. My job is to simply make sure that everything goes the way that He intended it to, with only minimal interventions."

"So, you basically sit in this _House of Clocks_ everyday, and only use whatever kind of powers you have whenever it is deemed necessary?" Stardust said. "Wow, that reminds me of somepony else that I know..."

Kronos looked over at Stardust, and a frown appeared on his face. " _Do not_ mess with me, _boy_... there is no need for me to always intervene, or make my presence known, unless something has gone horribly wrong..."

He paused to walk over to Stardust, and the young man noticed the seriousness in Kronos' face and voice. "Because of _Anti-You_ , I have done _way more_ than I should, and he's completely destroyed the world that he came from."

"Well, that isn't _my_ fault," replied Stardust, not backing down from Kronos' stare. "And what can _you_ do to me that will-"

 _Jack, please, quiet yourself!_

"You should listen to him, _child_ ," exclaimed Kronos. "Because if I wanted to right now, I could readjust _your_ timeline into making sure that you have a permanent stay on a deserted island, with only Flash Sentry and Timber to talk to."

After Kronos said that, Stardust gritted his teeth in frustration, and exclaimed, "You wouldn't _dare..._ and, plus, I have Starswirl here to make sure that doesn't happen."

 _For pony's sake, Jack, do not bring me into this!_

"Starswirl may have brought you to your world's version of Equestria," replied Kronos. "But I can make it so that you've never _ever_ heard of _My Little Pony_... do we understand each other?"

A few feet away from them, Discord was sitting in a reclining chair, eating some popcorn. "Go on, Jack-Jack, I'd like to see where this goes!"

Ignoring him, Stardust replied, "I'll believe this... _for now_... but you don't really think this is all _my_ fault, do you?"

Kronos stepped away from him, and he said, "No, but because of what he's done, I am leaving the solution to you and your friends, in the hopes that you'll be able to prevent your world, Casey's world, and even _Anti-Equestria_ from suffering the same fate as the world that _Anti-Stardust_ came from."

"Well, what did the other Stardust do that was so terrible?" Twilight asked, and a sad expression appeared on Kronos' face.

"I can show you all, but I must warn you that it is not for the faint of heart."

Stardust shook his head, and said, "Trust me, Kronos, I've been through a _hell_ of a lot worse than an alternate version of myself... what's the worst that he can do?"

Kronos sighed, and he stuck his staff into the ground, which caused the clock to transform into a portal. "See for yourself."

* * *

 _[Anti-Stardust's Past]_

 _"Aaauuugghhh! I can't take this anymore!"_

Stardust was currently on the rooftop of Canterlot High, and he looked completely frustrated.

"I have had to go through _all four_ of these trash films, and I _still_ can't [BEEP] go to Equestria!"

Stardust looked up in the sky, and cried, " _Someome_ up there hates me because I do _not_ deserve this kind of [BEEP]!"

 _"I agree wholeheartedly with you, Jack..."_

Stardust turned around, and found himself looking at a young man around his age, wearing a cloak, as well as holding a silver-colored staff.

"Who in the hell are you?"

The cloaked person chucked, and he said, "My name is Rowan, Jack, and what would you say if I told you that there's an alternate version of yourself who resides in Ponyville?"

Stardust blinked his eyes a few times, and he shook his head, saying, "Go [BEEP] yourself, Rowan, I'm not in the mood for anyone's bullcrap."

 _Oh, ho, this will be perfect_ , thought a grinning Rowan, who replied, "I can assure you that I am telling you the truth... in fact, this other version of you is living the life _you_ have always wanted since stepping foot into this cursed world."

Stardust crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow. "Go on..."

With a chuckle, Rowan used the staff to create a portal, which allowed Stardust to see Ponyville, as well as the pony version of Princess Twilight.

"Is that supposed to be _me_?" Stardust asked, referring to the gold Earth Pony that was by Twilight's side.

"Correct, my friend," replied Rowan, knowing that his plan was coming close to reality. "And while _you_ are here in the world of _Equestria Girls,_ dealing with such things as Flash Sentry and Camp Everfree, _that_ version of you is enjoying his life in Ponyville as the special somepony of Twilight Sparkle."

"He _what_?!" Stardust yelled, his eyes growing wide, and his temper rising. "But... that's what is supposed to happen to me!"

Rowan nodded his head, and said, "I agree, Stardust, but there had to be _someone_ who needed to be sent here, and since _he_ was taken to Ponyville, _you_ were the one who had to stay in this world, in which your chances of _ever_ staying in Equestria are slim to none."

Stardust's mouth almost dropped, and after seeing his other self sharing a loving kiss with Princess Twilight, the young man said, "Get this damn thing away from me."

Using the staff, Rowan made the portal vanish into thin air, and he smiled as he sensed Stardust's anger rising. _Perfect!_

" _However_... there _is_ a way that you'll be able to take what is rightfully yours, my friend."

Looking at Rowan, Stardust asked, "What are you talking about?"

"I can give you the power required to go into that world, but on one condition... once you have the power, you cannot hesitate nor show any signs of regret or remorse in your actions that you take in accomplishing your goals."

He gestured to the area around them, and added, "You can even unleash all of the hatred that you have for this world, which will allow your power to grow stronger, and soon, no one will be able to stand in your way."

With a sinister smile, Rowan tapped his staff on the ground a few times, and it began to glow with dark energy. "Are you ready?"

"Um..." Stardust looked back at the door that led him into the high school, where his friends and girlfriend were currently in. "But what about-"

Before he could finish, however, Rowan fired a dark energy blast at Stardust, and once he hit the ground, the sinister pony laughed evily. " _Now to handle some of my own business_..."

 _Whoosh!_

The cloaked pony vanished in a colorful flash of light, leaving the young man to himself.

" _What... the hell... is happening... to me..._ " growled Stardust, whose entire body was being covered with dark energy. " _Aaaaaauuugggghhhhh_!"

Then, once he finished going through his transformation, the exit door suddenly opened, and Sci-Twi ran out, as well as Sunset and the rest of the "hu-mane" seven.

"Jack?" The human version of Twilight asked, carefully walking towards him. "Are you okay?"

"And why are you covered in some weird type of magic?" asked EG Applejack.

Stardust was sitting on the ground, his head hanging down, but as he began to stand up, the young man began to chuckle. "I've never felt better, Twilight.. and as for _you_ , AJ..."

He turned his head to look at EG Applejack, and said, "How about I give you a demonstration?"

Unfortunately, the human version of Applejack wouldn't get a chance to speak.

 _"Stardust, no!"_


	9. Stardust's Mistake, Part 2

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 9 - Stardust's Mistake, Part 2_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

"Twilight... love... _I need... to breath_..."

The alicorn-turned-human had her arms wrapped tightly around Stardust, and she quickly released him from her grip once his face started turning purple. "Oops, sorry."

Kronos sighed, his voice laced with feelings of sadness. "I warned you that this would not be easy to watch."

"So, he basically killed her?" Applejack asked, while Stardust was taking several deep breaths.

The elderly man moved one of his hands from side to side, and replied, "Eh, kind of, just not in the way that a human would... Jack, do you remember what Rowan did to the other alternate versions of yourself?"

Nodding his head, Stardust was also starting to frown as he remembered the damage that Miles - no, _Rowan_ had brought to the nine worlds. "Yeah, it was like a backwards version of someone drawing a character... so he literally erased her from existence?"

"Unfortunately, yes, and the same thing happened to the others," confirmed Kronos.

Feeling confused, Twilight asked, "But why would he do such a terrible thing to his closest friends?"

"Because, at the time, he felt it was necessary in order to get to your world," replied Kronos. "And like Rowan said, he could not show any signs of regret for whatever actions he took against anyone who could stand in his way."

Sunset, who had remained quiet ever since arriving in Kronos' home, made her way over to him. "What happened to Human Twilight?"

* * *

 _[Anti-Stardust's past]_

The only two people remaining on the rooftop now were Sci-Twi and Stardust, who currently had one of his hands over his left eye.

"Damn you, Shimmer," he muttered angrily to himself.

As for Sci-Twi, she didn't know what to say to her boyfriend. "Star... how could you... they were our friends..."

Stardust looked at the glasses-wearing teenage girl, and he replied, " _No_ , they were unoriginal characters without any kind of personality whatsoever... _[BEEP], my eye hurts like hell_!"

He then started to walk towards her, and Sci-Twi said "Stardust, please, this isn't the right thing to do. Why are you acting like this?"

"Because for over _six [BEEP] months_ , I have put with all kinds of [BEEP] in this world," exclaimed Stardust, trying to ignore the pain coming from his left eye. "And what happened a few days ago was the last straw..."

Sci-Twi looked at his other hand, which was still glowing with dark energy, and she asked, "Are you going to... do the same thing... to me?"

"If that's what it takes to get me to Equetria," replied Stardust, raising up his other hand. "Then, so be it."

The human version of Twilight looked back at the spot where her friends had been at not that long ago, and as she watched Stardust come closer to her, tears slowly started to fall down off of her face. " _Star... please..._ "

* * *

Suddenly, the clock on Kronos' staff returned to normal, and Discord exclaimed, "Aw, _come on_ , I wanted to see what happens next!"

Kronos shook his head, and explained, "I apologize for the abruptness, but I've spent enough time talking to all of you. You'll have to ask Anti-Stardust what happened when you see him again."

Discord scoffed, and he tossed the bag of popcorn to the ground, muttering, "Well, then, I would like a refund for that atrocious thing you would call a film."

"Well, then, _how_ are we supposed to get home?" Stardust asked, even though he had a pretty good idea of what Kronos would say to him.

"You'll have to figure that one out yourself, Jack," replied Kronos, while Stardust rolled his eyes. "But just know that it may be closer than you think..."

Then, before Stardust could say anything else, Kronos tapped his staff on the ground a few times, and it caused the group of friends to disappear again.

"Good luck, Jack," said the elderly gentleman. "I hope you make the right choices..."

* * *

 _[Stardust's World]_

Anti-Stardust was now inside the room of his other self, looking to see if there was anything that could be useful for his _back-up plan_ should Stardust and everypony else miraculously find their way back.

"How in the hell did he get all of those _Coke_ bottles?" Anti-Stardust said, referring to a trash bag in the corner that was almost filled up with soda pop bottles. "Oh, wait... yeah, Pinkie Pie, don't question it."

He was about to start looking through Stardust's dresser when something on his counterpart's desk caught his attention.

It was a well-organized photo album - _Twilight probably made this, then_ \- and as he flipped through the pages, Anti-Stardust saw photos of certain special moments in his other self's life.

 _This was supposed to be the life for_ _ **me**_ _,_ thought Anti-Stardust, and he continued flipping through the pages, but his frown went away after reaching a certain part of the book.

It was a photo of Stardust and Twilight, in their _Equestria Girls_ form, and were standing with the EG versions of their friends, along with Sunset.

Then, Anti-Stardust noticed that Sci-Twi was in the photo, as well, and he suddenly found himself having a flashback.

* * *

"Wait, so how come they can't just call soccer _'soccer'_ instead of calling it the name of a totally different sport?"

"Trust me, Dash, that's a _long_ and _boring_ explanation for someone like me to give to one of my closest friends."

The two friends were kicking a soccer ball back-and-forth with each other, while Sunset and Sci-Twi were sitting on a park bench that was a few feet away.

" _So_..." said Sunset, smirking at her friend, with an eyebrow raised. "You think you're ready to ask him yet?"

"Huh?" Sci-Twi said, acting like she'd just got out of a trance. "Ask who what?"

Sunset rolled her eyes, and replied, "The guy you've been staring at ever since he and Rainbow started kicking the soccer ball around."

The human version of Twilight began to blush as she tried denying what her friend was assuming about her. "No, no, I wasn't... I was just, ah, thinking about the test we had today in Mrs. McCarthy's class."

" _Sure_ you were..." chuckled Sunset, while Sci-Twi continued to blush and started to fidget with her glasses.

Once EG Rainbow was given back the soccer ball by Stardust, she began kicking it up in the air several times by using her knees. "Yeah, right, you probably don't even know yourself."

Stardust rolled his eyes, and said, "I'm not clueless or anything when it comes to stuff like that, Dash..."

"Uh-huh, just like you're not clueless about the fact that Twilight has a crush on you," retorted EG Rainbow, and Sci-Twi immediately wished that she was somewhere else right now.

Stardust just looked at her athletic friend, and asked, "What are you talking about?"

EG Rainbow sighed, and replied, "She has a... uh, what's that word you use... _freaking_ crush on you, Star, and you haven't even realized it yet."

Sci-Twi looked over at Sunset, giving her a pleading look, and the flame-hair-colored teenager began walking over to her two friends. "Alright, Rainbow, that's enough..."

"What, it's _true_ , and we all know it," said EG Rainbow, now spinning the soccer ball around with one of her fingers. "Heck, almost every time she's tutoring me, she always ends up saying stuff like ' _remember when he did this_ ' or _'remember when he did that_ ', and-"

Stardust stepped in between Sunset and EG Rainbow, and said, "Hold it, hold on a second... Twilight is _tutoring_ you?"

The soccer ball fell from EG Rainbow's hand as she realized what she'd just said. "Um... well, not _every day_... and it's only so I can keep my grades up in order to stay on the soccer team."

Stardust crossed his arms, and smirked at her. "What class are you having trouble in?"

Before EG Rainbow could answer, Sunset began dragging her away from him. "Alright, blabber mouth, you and I are going to have a little conversation real quick..."

"Hey, it's not _my_ fault she can't make up her mind about him!"

As the two of them walked further away from Stardust, who was laughing to himself, he turned around to look at an embarrassed Sci-Twi that was currently wishing to be anywhere else except the park.

 _I'll never understand women_ , thought Stardust, now making his way over to the bench, and sitting next to her.

"Um... nice weather we're having, huh?"

Sci-Twi then began twiddling her thumbs, and Stardust sighed, saying, "Twilight, it's okay... I won't tease you, or laugh at you for whatever it is you have to tell me."

"What makes you think I have something to tell you?"

...

"Oh, right... well, um... she wasn't exactly, er, wrong about me and..."

 _Wow, she makes Fluttershy look like Pinkie,_ thought Stardust, giving her a smile. "You don't have to be nervous, Twilight, it's _me_ , remember? The guy you first me when you stepped foot into Canterlot High?"

 _Instead of that blue-haired [BEEP]._

Sci-Twi nodded her head, and a small smile appeared on her face. "I know, Stardust, and I'm glad we met... I just, er... figured you'd want to be with Princess Twilight instead of... me..."

She then turned her head away from Stardust, not wanting to see his expression, but to Sci-Twi's surprise, he placed his hand underneath her chin, and turned her back around so that she could see his warm smile.

"I know that I'm always talking about waiting for the day that I can leave this place, but if there's one reason for me to stay... well, you'd be on top of the list."

 _Yeah, not my best work, but so what?_

Sci-Twi blushed, and replied, "But don't you... and the other Twilight..."

Stardust shook his head, and said, "I don't care that you're not actually a pony princess... I like you for who _you_ are, not just because you're a human counterpart of Princess Twilight. Don't change yourself just to impress a guy like me."

The human version of Twilight nodded her head, and then, she said, "Well, then... um... I was wondering if, er... I mean, homecoming is..."

"Oh, my, is Twilight Sparkle about to ask me to the homecoming dance?" Stardust replied, teasing her a little bit. "I thought it was supposed to be the other way around."

Sci-Twi's blush grew even more, and she said, "Well, yes, in some cases... but I just, ah, assumed that you wouldn't want to go since... you know..."

Knowing what she was trying to say, Stardust replied, "As long as we don't have to run into _him_ or the _other_ one on the day of homecoming, I would love to go with you."

"I don't think that would even be possible for _'him',_ thanks to you," said Sci-Twi, remembering events from their past. "And I'm not sure Fl - I mean, the _other_ one is going to make it since I've heard that he is too busy trying to fix his damaged car."

Stardust let out a fake gasp, and exclaimed, " _Oh, my gosh... is the car okay_?"

Sci-Twi rolled her eyes, and replied, "It's driveable... just going to take up a lot of his time trying to fix it."

 _Well, thank you to whoever did that._

The gold-skinned teenager started laughing to himself, while Sci-Twi asked, "So... is that a _yes, or...?"_

Once Stardust had finished with his laughter, he nodded his head. " _Yes_ , Twilight, I would be more than happy to accompany you to homecoming, and thank you for asking."

" _Really?_ " Sci-Twi said, her eyes growing wide with excitement, and once Stardust nodded again, the teenage girl couldn't help but smile.

"Now, _that's_ the Twilight _I_ know," said Stardust, which made the blushing Twilight chuckle as she twirled some strands of her hair around with her fingers.

 _###############_

 _Yeah, that certainly was an interesting day,_ thought Anti-Stardust, a small smile on his face as he continued to remember that day.

But then, it quickly turned into a frown when the young pony also remembered another fateful day in his life.

* * *

 _[Insert "Birth of Sandman" by Christopher Young]_

 _"Ugh, my head..."_

 _I opened my eyes, and the first thing I saw was a small lake._

 _My mouth was strangely dry, so I quickly ran as fast as I could go to the body of water, and started to drink it._

 _Yes, I'm aware that it's probably not the safest thing to do, but I'm dying of thirst right now, okay?_

 _Anyway, once I felt like I had drank enough water, I dried my mouth by wiping it with my hand... only... my hand was now a... hoof._

 _"What the..." I looked at both of my hands, which were now the hooves of a pony, and then I looked back at the lake._

 _In the reflection from the water, I saw that I now looked like my other self who was living in Ponyville, with Twilight and Spike... except I had a scar over my left eye, courtesy of Sunset Shimmer._

 _Also, I don't remember how I got this black, flame-like energy stuff that's surrounding my body... and this place... doesn't feel like the Equestria from the show..._

 _"Twilight? Can you believe that-"_

 _I stopped talking after realizing that my girlfriend wasn't next to me, and before I could say anything else, my head started to hurt, and I suddenly began seeing things in my mind._

 _AJ falling to the ground... Rainbow getting upset... Fluttershy being terrified... a speechless Rarity... Pinkie trying to run away from me._

 _And it was all because I-_

 _"No. I couldn't have... why would I do something like that to... this can't be real."_

 _Unfortunately, things just got worse from there._

 _I sat myself down on the ground, turning my head to the right, and saw... Lyra talking to Bon-Bon about something, but... why did they seem so different and less kinder-looking than I remember?_

 _Before I could even try and talk to them, I also noticed a familiar object lying next to me._

"No... not her... please..."

 _###############_

Anti-Stardust reached into one of his cloak's pocket, and pulled out the object that he'd kept with him throughout all of the six years (technically) in Anti-Equestria.

It was Sci-Twi's glasses, and they looked completely fine except for the fact that one of the lens was cracked... they had been that way ever since he'd found them on the first day he had arrived in Anti-Ponyville.

"If I'd have just been sent to Equestria instead of _Canterlot High_ ," growled the alternate version of Stardust. "Then I wouldn't be feeling this [BEEP]-in pain I get everytime I think about them..."

Setting the pair of glasses down, he then decided to put the _Equestria Girls_ photo in his hooves, and Anti-Stardust remained silent as he watched it slowly become burnt to a crisp, thanks to his power.

"I hope you've enjoyed your time here, _Jack_... because there is no way in hell that you're ever coming back."

* * *

 _(London, England)_

" _Phew,_ I feel so much better now!"

As Pinkie stepped out of the women's restroom, Starlight rolled her eyes, and said, "Yeah, good for you, Pinkie, now let's get back to-"

 _"Aaaagggghhhh!"_

Twilight's pupil rubbed one of her eardrums, and she exclaimed, "What is wrong with you _now_ , Pinkie?"

The young pony-turned-human and party-planning teenager was currently facing a glass window that belonged to one of the toy stores in the mall they were both in right now, and her eyes were as big as tennis balls.

 _"Starlight, look... I'm a stuffed plushie...:_

Then, a wide smile appeared on Pinkie's face as she added, "This... is... _amazing_!"


	10. Dealing with the Past

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 10 - Dealing with the Past_

 _Author's Note - "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" is owned by DHX Media and Hasbro._

* * *

"Well, that was something," muttered Stardust, blinking his eyes a few times and shaking his head to remove the dizziness that he was feeling right now.

The group of friends had been sent back to London, but even though they all had a better understanding about why Anti-Stardust had chosen to take over Twilight's castle, there was still no solution that could bring them back home.

"Jack, maybe we should..." began Twilight, but she stopped after taking another look at Stardust's face. "When did you get glasses?"

"Huh?" Stardust brought his hand to his face, and realized that he was now wearing a pair of glasses. "Well, how convenient... thanks, Starswirl."

 _I figured that it would be best to give it to you sooner rather than later._

Then, Fluttershy walked over to Stardust, and asked, "Since when do you need to wear those? You've never worn glasses in Ponyville."

Stardust shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "There wasn't really a need for that, Fluttershy, but now that I'm back here, my vision isn't affected anymore by Equestrian magic, so if I want to be able to see everything clearly, I have to wear these."

"Well, you could at least have gotten a more, um... non-basic pair, darling," said Rarity, which made Twilight roll her eyes. "Not that you look horrible or anything with them on, but they look almost exactly like the ones that the human version of Twilight has back in Sunset's world."

Before Stardust could respond to Rarity, they were interrupted by a returning Pinkie Pie, who had a wide smile on her face, and Starlight Glimmer, who looked tired and slightly irritated.

"What happened to y'all?" asked Applejack.

Starlight shook her head, and she replied, "Trust me, AJ, you don't want to know..."

"So, what did you all do while we were gone?" wondered Pinkie, and Stardust was about to explain, but Discord beat him to it.

"Oh, nothing unusual for those like us, but I'm pretty sure we all learned that this is all of Stardust's fault."

Stardust rolled his eyes, and he said, "This has nothing to do with me, Discord, and you know that."

Discord smirked at the young man, and said, "Well, in a way, the other Stardust that's walking around Twilight's castle is technically you, yes?"

"I guess, but that doesn't mean we're the same person," replied Stardust. "I would never do any of that stuff he did to-"

"Even though you've said to everyone here numerous times, especially to Twilight, about how much you just loathe Sunset's world, and most of the people that live there?" pointed out the former draconequus. "And what was that thing you once said to describe it... hmmm... someone's greatest mistake ever, if I recall?"

Twilight started to frown, and was not appreciating the way that he was talking Stardust. "Whatever you're trying to do, Discord, just stop... because me and Sunset both know that he'd never do anything that horrifying to Sci-Twi or the other versions of all of us."

Sunset nodded, in agreement, and Discord let out a fake gasp. "Who, _me_? I'm not doing anything at all, Twilight... and, yes, maybe it isn't his fault that this is happening, but who is to say that he won't do something similar later on in the future?"

With a sly grin, Discord looked at the former pupil of Celestia, and asked, "Has he even made peace yet with the human versions of the Mane Six?"

"That doesn't matter right now, Discord," exclaimed Stardust, speaking before Sunset could give an answer to him. "Get to your damn point."

"Yes, well... you know as well as I do that there are times when history repeats itself," continued a grinning Discord. "And if I'm not mistaken, there was a time during your third 'year' in Ponyville when you were acting the way your other self is right now?"

Everyone except Casey knew what Discord was referring to, and the black-haired teenager asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Mr. Hero over here allowed himself to be possessed by a certain dark spirit, and that caused Stardust to attack those around him, both verbally and physically."

Before Casey could respond, Stardust said, "You were still a damn statue when that all happened. How did you-"

"When it comes to something like that, my friend, I make it my business to know," replied Discord, and Stardust quickly glanced over at Fluttershy, who instantly shook her head. "Now, where was I... oh, yes... he didn't even bother trying to stop 'himself' when he threw Rarity into a wall, or even delivered some pain to Rainbow Dash, even saying that she was his least favorite pony to be with."

Normally, Rainbow would have defended Stardust, but she still felt guilty about the way she had acted towards him back in Ponyville, so she simply remained quiet while Applejack exclaimed, "We've already settled this, Discord, that wasn't his fault. He didn't even know that-"

"Just as I am sure that the other Stardust didn't know that he was erasing his friends from existence?" added Discord. "And you all may think that this has been settled, but..."

He then looked straight at Stardust, and asked, "How do we know that he won't end up doing something worse one da - _aaaugghh! Ow_!"

"That _is it, Mister_ ," exclaimed Fluttershy, who had gotten a tight grip on Discord's ear, and was now pulling him away to the side. "You and I are going to have a serious talk about being mean to our friends!"

As for Stardust, he was now looking down at the ground, taking in what Discord had said to everyone.

"Now, now, Star, you know that he was messing with you in his... own... weird way," said Applejack, trying to comfort him. "We don't blame you anymore for what happened."

"She's right, Star, it's all in the past," agreed Spike, smiling up at his brother, and happily wagging his tail around.

Pinkie nodded, and cried, "Yeah, we totally forgave you for all that nasty stuff that Sombra had you do. Right, Rainbow?"

Twilight looked over at Rainbow, who simply nodded her head, while Stardust sighed, and said, "Thanks, but... he's also right, in a way... I didn't do anything, at first, to stop those horrible things from happening to everypony... and the fact that I almost deeply hurt those I sincerely care about... is something I'm going to have to live through for the rest of my life..."

Suddenly, the young man heard the comforting voice of Starswirl in his head.

 _While that may be true, Jack, you and I both know that your friends no longer blame you for those events. We may not be able to go back and stop them from ever happening, but things happen for a reason... look at all the positives that have happened in your life since then._

 _I know, and I'm grateful for all of that,_ replied Stardust. _But it still happened, and seeing the way that they looked at me while I was... possessed... is not exactly something that can be easily forgotten._

Casey looked at Twilight, wondering why his friend was looking up at the sky, and she explained, "He's talking to Starswi - huh?"

Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Starlight walked over to Stardust, and gave him a hug, like a young girl would give to her brother when she saw that he looked upset or bothered by something.

"You aren't the only one with a troubled past," replied Starlight, sensing the confusion coming from her friend. "Plus, I figured you could use a hug right now."

 _Like I've told you before, Jack, your friends will always be there for you._

Feeling a little better, Stardust gave Starlight a pat on the back, and he said, "Thank you, Starlight... I, er, definitely needed a hug."

Twilight's pupil nodded her head, smiling at him, and then, Stardust felt himself receiving a tight bear hug from Pinkie Pie. "My turn!"

While everyone tried their best not to laugh, Stardust said, " _Thanks... Pinkie..._ "

* * *

 _[Stardust's World]_

Having already completed the requirements for his back-up plan, Anti-Stardust had decided to rest his head on a pile of books he'd been reading, but exhaustion had caught up with him, and he soon began to fall asleep.

"Mid... Twi... light..." mumbled Stardust's alternate self, and he began dreaming about another memory from the past.

 _[Flashback Dream]_

" _You aren't the only one who can learn how to drive, Sentry_ ," said Stardust, who had been taught the basics of driving by Sunset during the two weeks leading up to this evening.

It definitely wasn't easy, but Stardust knew that he had learned enough for him and Sci-Twi to enjoy homecoming.

The car that he'd driven was a rental, provided by his friends, even though he had told them several times that he wanted to pay from his own pockets.

As for his outfit, the young teenager had finally agreed to EG Rarity's pleas of designing one for him, and in all honesty, Stardust was impressed.

 _She even made good usage of the colors that my Cutie Mark has_ , thought Stardust, who was also walking up to Sci-Twi's front door.

 _Knock-knock-knock!_

"I just hope she put the same effort in Twilight's dress," said Stardust, in a low tone of voice. "So far, the one she's made for me right now is her best work."

Then, the door opened, and when Stardust saw how Sci-Twi looked, his mouth almost dropped to the ground.

 _Oh... my... God, Rarity... HOW did you do this?_

"So, um..." said Sci-Twi, who was also blushing slightly at her friend's speechless expression. "Do I look okay?"

Stardust blinked his eyes a few times, and after a minute or so, he replied, " _Okay_... doesn't even begin to cover it..."

 _I could've sworn that I've seen something like this before._

Sci-Twi continued to blush, and said, "Thank you, Stardust... you look great, too, and... oh, what's that?"

She pointed at the plastic box in Stardust's hand, and he replied, "Oh, yes, this... it's a, um... corsage, Twilight, and now that you're here, I can do this."

Stardust then opened the box, revealing the _White Orchid Blue Delphineum_ corsage, and he gently placed it on Sci-Twi's left wrist.

"It smells so beautiful," said Sci-Twi, her nose catching the flower's scent. "Thank you, Star."

"You're welcome," replied Stardust, smiling at the fact that she was happy right now. "Now, then, shall we head off?"

 _#################_

As the two of them entered the well-decorated school gymnasium (also thanks to EG Rarity), Sci-Twi noticed that almost everyone was already here, and some of the other couples were already on the dance floor.

"We aren't late, are we?"

Stardust chuckled, and shook his head. "Of course not, love... the night's still young, and we have plenty of time to enjoy this event."

 _"Twilight! Stardust! Over here!"_

They looked over at one of the tables, and saw a hand-waving EG Pinkie Pie, who was also sitting with Sunset and the rest of the HuMane Six.

"Well, no need to waste time searching for them," said Stardust, with Sci-Twi letting out a chuckle.

Once they were at the table, EG Rainbow - who was leaning back in her chair - smirked at Stardust. "I'm still surprised that you actually showed up here, Star, I thought you said you can't dance."

"I said that I _didn't_ dance," corrected Stardust. "Never said that I _couldn't_..."

EG Rainbow nodded, and said, "Well, there's only one thing for me to say... pay up, Applejack."

The young teenager with a Southern American accent rolled her eyes, and mumbled underneath her breath as she handed EG Rainbow a small stack of dollar bills.

"I'm not even gonna ask," said Stardust, as he and Sci-Twi took their seats.

 _###############_

"Can I have this dance, love?" The young man asked, standing in front of his date, and offering his hand for her to take.

"Um, yes, I... I would really enjoy that..." replied Sci-Twi, smiling as he brought her over to the dance floor, where they started dancing together.

 _(Background Music)_

 _I say hey, I'll be gone today_

 _But I'll be back all around the way_

 _It seems like everywhere I go_

 _The more I see, the less I know_

 _But I know one thing_

 _That I love you (oh baby yes I do)_

 _I love you, I love you, I love you_

"Have you been taking dance lessons?" wondered Sci-Twi, sounding surprised. "You've never been _this_ good before."

As he twirled her around, Stardust shrugged his shoulders, saying, "I wouldn't call it _good_ , Twilight... just enough for the two of us to enjoy this night together."

When the two of them were almost face-to-face with each other, the closeness made Sci-Twi's blush grow deeper, and she let out a chuckle. "I think I'm enjoying it just fine."

Stardust smiled, and he replied, "Good, I was hoping you'd say that."

 _I've been a lot of places all around the way_

 _I've seen a lot of joy and I've seen a lot of pain_

 _But I don't want to write a love song for the world_

 _I just want to write a song about a boy and a girl_

Leaning against the wall, EG Rainbow smiled as she watched two of her closest friends dance happily together.

 _"Ahem!"_

She turned to the right, and saw EG Applejack, who was giving her a smug smile. "What?"

"Did I not say that Star and Twi's first dance song wouldn't be one of those slow and romantic ones?"

EG Rainbow frowned in confusion, but then she had an expression of realization, and that soon became a look of disappointment. "Don't tell me I have to..."

EG Applejack put her hand out in front of her friend, and said, "Pay up, sugarcube."

Muttering to herself, the athletic teenager returned the money that AJ had given her, and she started to walk away.

" _Whoa, ho_ , hold up a minute there, Rainbow," said EG Applejack. "You ain't done just yet."

EG Rainbow rolled her eyes, and shook her head as she pulled out her wallet, taking out several more dollar bills to give to her friend. "There, you happy now?"

"Ah sure am, sugarcube," replied EG Applejack, and she tipped her hat at EG Rainbow before walking away, while the athletic teenager made frustrated sounds under her breath.

"They'd better not kiss after this song..."

 _Kids on the corner always calling my name_

 _And the kids on the corner playing silly games_

 _When I saw you getting down, well, I hope it was you_

 _And when I look into your eyes I knew it was true_

Stardust and Sci-Twi were almost to that point where the two of would look into each other's eyes, and share their first kiss, but neither of them wanted to make the first move just yet.

 _I don't want him to think we're moving too fast,_ thought Sci-Twi. _But he looks so... and his eyes..._

As for Stardust, he was thinking of something similar. _I don't want to screw this up... but she looks so beautiful, and..._

 _"_ _ **Stardust!**_ _"_

Suddenly, the two of them stopped dancing, and Sci-Twi said, "Who is that?"

"I don't know wh-"

 _"_ _ **Hey, Stardust!**_ _"_

* * *

The next thing he knew, Anti-Stardust was back in the library, and he looked up to see Anti-Rainbow at the door. "What the _[BEEP]_ , Crash?"

"It's Applebloom, Star," said the worried Pegasus pony. "Her friends helped her escape, and-"

"Bah, just leave her alone, then," growled Anti-Stardust. "No one's going to believe her anyway, and I highly doubt that Celestia can actually do something."

Anti-Rainbow nodded her head, and she asked, "How's it going with-"

"Everything is fine, Crash," assured the alternate version of Stardust. "And like I said, there is _no one_ who can help that little pony."

###############

She didn't know where she was going, but Applebloom knew that she had to tell someone about what was going on.

"This is like some horrible nightmare," cried the little pony. "Who's going to believe me about... _oh, holy apples_!"

Applebloom suddenly stopped running, and it was like a light bulb had just turned on above her head. "I know who to talk to for help!"

* * *

 _(London, England)_

"Okay, now say what you need to say to Stardust, or there will be no more cucumber sandwich picnics."

Fluttershy then slightly pushed Discord towards Stardust, who simply stared at him, and the now-human Discord sighed. "Okay, fine... I'm... s-s- _sorry_ , Stardust... we're still friends, right?"

"I never said we _weren't,_ Discord," said Stardust, rolling his eyes. "I just don't like it when you act... however it is you act sometimes."

Fluttershy looked up at Discord, nodding her approval, and the former draconequus said, "Well, let's hurry this up, and return home already. I'm not exactly... _fond_... of this world's atmosphere..."

"Well, according to Kronos, the way to get home is closer than we think," said Twilight. "So it has to be somewhere-"

" _Ooh, ooh, pick me, pick me!"_

Twilight and Stardust both looked at the hand-raising Pinkie Pie, and the former Earth Pony asked, "Yes, Pinkie?"

"What if we wait until it's close to midnight, go back up to the scary-high top of Big Ben, and see if the clock turns into a gateway portal like the Crystal Mirror?"

For a moment, nobody said anything... but then, Stardust blinked a few times, and said, "You mean to tell me... that we... the clock... this entire... time..."

 _Thump!_

Twilight quickly caught her fainting boyfriend before he could hit the ground, and she asked, "How'd you come up with that idea, Pinkie?"

The party-planning teenager shrugged her shoulders, and replied, "Just a hunch."

 _"Ugggghhhh..."_ groaned Stardust.

* * *

 _(Casey's World)_

Twilight was in the library, patiently reading a book as she waited for her special somepony to return from helping Stardust, but her attention was caught by the sound of the Crystal Mirror machine being activated.

"Back so soon, Casey?" said Twilight, assuming that it was him who was stepping out. "I mean, it's only been five minutes, and the other Twilight said that it would..."

 _"I'm sorry, but Casey is a little busy at the moment,"_ said Anti-Stardust, as he stepped out of the Crystal Mirror. " _And since I've lost a prisoner, I need somepony else who I can use as leverage._ "

Twilight gulped, and she slowly started to back away. "Are you... okay... Stardust?"

" _Never been better, Twilight,_ " replied Anti-Stardust, and before she could run out of the library, he used his dark energy magic to seal the doors completely. _"I do wish that I could say the same for you."_


	11. Going Home

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 11 - Getting Home_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

As Twilight helped Stardust up to his feet, Discord said, "Now, this is surprising to see... I never thought you'd be one of those melodramatic _fainting_ people."

"I'm _not_ ," replied Stardust, while adjusting his glasses. "I only did it because of the fact that Pi... I mean, that we pretty much wasted all that time running around London, trying to find a way home-"

 _I wouldn't exactly say you wasted time, Jack._

"Oh, so _now_ you're talking?" Stardust exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell us that Big Ben was the way for us to get back home?"

 _Because you wouldn't have gone through what you did, and learned what needed to be known._

Stardust rolled his eyes, and asked, "And what would that be, pray tell?"

As the two of them continued their conversation, Casey looked at Twilight, and asked, "Don't you ever want to know what Starswirl is saying to him?"

"Depending on the situation," replied the young princess. "But I think it's best if I respect their privacy, and just wait until Jack tells me whatever Starswirl said to him."

Casey nodded his head, and looked back at his friend, who still did not look satisfied with the answers he was receiving.

 _If I had told you, Jack, you wouldn't have told Miss Dash that you did not blame her for being upset with you, nor would you have had a rather enjoyable dancing experience with Miss AJ._

Stardust took a quick glance at Rainbow before giving a response.

 _Yeah, well, I still have some fixing to do in that department when all this is over... but I still can't see why-_

 _I wasn't quite done yet,_ replied Starswirl. _You also would have not seen what happened in Anti-Stardust's past; therefore, you wouldn't have been able to-_

"Okay, hold it," exclaimed Stardust. "If you're about to say what I think you're going to say..."

 _You know that it's the right thing to do._

"No, it's _not_ ," replied the young man. "After everything that he has done to us, you expect me to-"

 _Was it not you who said once that no one is beyond redemption?_

Stardust waited a moment to remember the day he _had_ said that, and then, he replied, "Okay, but I don't think redeeming him-"

"We have to try, Jack."

Everyone looked at Twilight, who continued to speak. "He's still you, in a way, and I know that there has to a part of him who is regretting everything that he's doing."

Stardust sighed, and he replied, "But, love, you saw what he did to his friends... to Sci-Twi..."

"Well, to be fair, we don't know if he did the same thing to her," reminded Twilight. "And I'm sure that if we convince Anti-Stardust to change his ways, everyone else will come back in the same way that those other versions of you did."

Stardust still looked hesitant about possibly trying to redeem his alternate self, but after Twilight placed her hand on his shoulder, and she gave him a warm smile, the former pony said, "Fine, I'll do my best to help him, love, but... it sure as hell isn't going to be an easy task to accomplish."

"Well, of course it won't be, darling," replied Rarity. "When has something like this ever been easy for us?"

Stardust chuckled, and said, "True... I just wish we didn't have to wait until damn midnight to-"

"I never said we didn't _have to_ wait until midnight, Stardust," pointed out Pinkie. "I just suggested that time."

The young man looked at her friend, and asked, "So, what, you think any time will be work? Like now?"

"Maybe," shrugged Pinkie. "But it would be kinda hard since a whole lot of people are by it right now."

She pointed her finger in the direction of Big Ben, and everyone saw that a massive crowd of tourists were standing by the famous clocktower.

"Well, I could take care of that part," said Discord, as he cracked and flexed his fingers.

"Yeah, but there's still the problem of actually getting up to the actual clock," reminded Stardust, but before he could say more, Rainbow's stomach started to growl.

"Um, Star, can we all go to some place that has good food and no creepy guys trying to harass us?"

Stardust chuckled, and he said, "Sure, Rainbow... I think I know just the place actually."

 _A few minutes later_

The group of friends entered a restaurant that was titled _Poppies Fish and Chips,_ and as they sat at a table, Spike asked, "What made you decide to come here?"

"It had a good response on Yelp," replied Stardust, causing everyone except Discord to be confused.

"Um, what in the hay is _Yelp_?" Applejack asked.

Before Stardust could answer, an elderly female waitress came over to the table, and asked for their orders.

"We'd all like a cup of water, and a plate of fish and chips," answered Stardust, and the waitress smiled kindly at him before walking away.

"Er, what's _fish and chips_?" Rainbow asked.

Stardust looked at her friend, and answered, "It's a food dish that I rather enjoy very much, and even though I'm sure that this will be the only time we're all here in England, I figured I would introduce it to you all before we go back home."

Rainbow's stomach growled again, and she said, "Alright, I'll eat almost anything at this point... I'm _starving_!"

"Oh, honestly, Rainbow, you act sometimes like you've never eaten a decent meal before," said Rarity, rolling her eyes at her friend.

" _Anyway_..." exclaimed Twilight, not wanting her friends to start an argument. "We need to figure out how exactly we're going to climb up to the top of Big Ben in order to jump through the clock."

Stardust quickly looked at Pinkie, and asked, "Any of your _hunches_ include a solution to that?"

"Um... no, I don't think so," replied Pinkie.

Stardust sighed, and he muttered, "Of course, they don't..."

"I wish me and Twilight and Rainbow still had our wings," sighed Fluttershy, with her two friends nodding in agreement.

Then, Spike looked over at Stardust again, and noticed the necklace that he was wearing. "What about that?"

"Huh?" Stardust looked down, and saw the Cutie Mark necklace he'd received from Miles' world. "Wow, I... forgot I even had this on."

"You think you could use it to help take us up to the top?" asked Starlight, and Stardust gave her a shrug.

"If it worked, then... yes, I suppose so, but I might have to make a few trips."

So, they all continued to figure out how their new plan would work, but paused the conversation once the waitress had brought their food.

" _Oh, boy, this smells so good,_ " said Rainbow, and she started diving into her meal.

"Wow, Star, you were right," said Spike, who was munching on the French Fries.

" _Sheesh_ , you two can at least _try_ to act decent enough to show your table manners" exclaimed Rarity, who had tucked a napkin in her collar before eating her meal.

"Um, Rarity, you don't have to... never mind," said Stardust, who also started eating. "Do you like it, love?"

"Yes, but... why do they call the fries _chips_ instead of fries?" Twilight asked, and her boyfriend shrugged.

"I don't care, this stuff tastes awesome," replied Spike. "Your world doesn't seem that bad, bro."

Stardust smirked at the dragon-turned-dog, and said, "It does have its moments... huh, I wonder if my little sister would enjoy this place."

 _And, here we go._

Before Stardust could ask what Starswirl meant, Twilight suddenly asked, "Um... Jack? Would you want to... perhaps... visit your family before we head back home?"

Stardust remained quiet for a moment, thinking about what the right answer would be, and then, to Twilight's surprise, he shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure that a _lot_ of time has passed since the last time I was in England, love, and although I will not lie about the fact that I do miss them, now is not really the best time for me to just randomly appear at my parent's doorstep."

"But, what about your little sister?" asked Twilight.

Rainbow paused her eating to wipe her mouth with a napkin, and asked, "You gave her the photo I signed, right?"

"Yes, Rainbow, and I'm sure that she's kept it in a very safe place," replied Stardust, which made the former Pegasus feel a little better.

Then, looking at Twilight, he said, "She'll be fine, love... and so will I."

Twilight gave him a warm smile, as did Spike, and as they continued to eat, Starswirl spoke to Stardust.

 _You handled that surprisingly well, my friend._

The young man gave a slight nod of his head, and resumed eating his meal.

 _I_ _ **did**_ _give her the photo, right?_

 _We'll talk about that later, Jack._

 _#################_

Once they finished eating, the group of friends headed straight over to the famous clocktower, and thanks to Discord, no one could see them standing in front of it.

"Alright, I've done my part," said the former draconequus, in a low tone so that none of the humans nearby could hear them. "Now, hurry up and activate your necklace thingy."

"Oh, will you just _relax,_ " hissed Stardust, and he closed his eyes in order to get his newfound power to work.

 _Think of a wonderful thought_

 _Any happy little thought_

Then, the Cutie Mark pendant began to glow, and it shot out two small streaks of white-hot flames that began swirling around Stardust's body, which soon became engulfed in a bright light.

After the light went away, they looked at the spot where Stardust had been... but even though he was now floating in the air, the young man had been turned back into his glowing, gold-colored _super sayian_ pony form, which only Twilight had previously seen.

Opening his eyes, which no longer needed glasses, Stardust looked down at himself, and said, "Huh, I did not know that it could do that."

 _Looks like we have our own story to uncover._

"Another time," whispered Stardust, and he spoke up after looking at his friends. "Alright, who wants to go first?"

To everyone's surprise, Fluttershy was the first to volunteer, and after seeing that everyone was looking at her, she said, "I'd just like to get it over with as soon as possible."

So, the animal-caring teenager walked over to Stardust, holding onto him the way Lois Lane would hold Superman, and he started levitating upward to the top of Big Ben, at a casual pace so that Fluttershy wouldn't be scared.

"You okay so far?" He asked, and she nodded her head. "Okay, just don't look down."

Around the halfway point, Fluttershy looked at her friend, and said, "Um, Stardust?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... er... since we're alone for the moment, I wanted to know if I could ask you about something?"

Stardust chuckled, and said, "Uh, yeah, sure... what is it?"

A hint of embarrassment appeared on Fluttershy's face as she said, "A few days ago... um, Spike said... well, he _accidentally_ mentioned to me that-"

" _We don't exactly have all day, you know_!"

Stardust rolled his eyes, and he yelled back, "Just _chill_ , Discord, I barely got up here right now!"

The two of them turned their heads to look at the giant clock, and Stardust asked, "You ready?"

Fluttershy nodded her head, deciding that she'd ask him another time, and after taking a deep breath, the young teenager jumped out of Stardust's arms, heading straight towards the clock...

... and falling through a gateway portal that had suddenly appeared.

"Starswirl?"

 _Yes?_

" _Please_ tell me you have _some_ explanation to give me as to how Pinkie knew about-"

 _I honestly wish I could, Jack, but even I have learned by now that one simply does not question Miss Pie._

"I figured you'd say that," muttered Stardust, who had quickly flown back down to the ground. "Alright, who's next?"

" _Me, me_!" Pinkie cried, and she hopped into Stardust's open arms. "Go fast, okay?"

"This isn't some type of ride, Pinkie," reminded Stardust. " _But_ if you say so, I suggest you _hang on."_

 _Whoosh!_

Stardust quickly zoomed up to the top of Big Ben, while Pinkie squealed with excitement. " _Wheee!"_

Once they were at the top, Pinkie gave Stardust a quick _thank-you_ hug, and sang, " _Ah-pink-skadoo, I can too_!"

She leaped away from Stardust, jumping into the portal, and the young pony laughed to himself as he re-joined his friends. "Next?"

After making sure that her hat was on tightly, Applejack walked over to Stardust, and said, "Let's do this, sugarcube."

Stardust nodded his head, and headed up at regular speed to the top of Big Ben.

"Oh, and Star? I'm sorry 'bout blamin' you for the barn being destroyed and all."

Stardust chuckled, and shook his head, saying, "No worries, AJ... I'm just glad you didn't get hurt again."

Casey chose to go after Applejack, but he decided to climb onto his back, and wrap his arms around Stardust's neck.

"I hope that your Twilight isn't worried to death about you," said Stardust.

Casey smiled at his friend's concern, and replied, "If I know her well enough by now, Star, she'll be safely reading a book in the library when I return."

Rairty went next, and when Stardust was halfway to the top, she also gave him an apology.

"I do apologize for hurting you with my broom, Stardust... am I forgiven?"

"Yes, Rarity, and don't worry," replied the gold pony. "I've taken a lot worse than your broom."

Rainbow decided to go after Rarity, but as they made their way up to the top, she was surprisingly silent.

 _Starswirl?_

 _The chance will come soon, my friend._

After her was Sunset, who said, "This actually doesn't look that bad on you, Star. I'm impressed."

"Thanks," replied Stardust, as well as giving her a smirk. "But it _totally_ tops any of the looks that you and the others have had back in your world."

A minute or so later, after he returned, Starlight walked up to him next, and she asked, "Still thinking about your past?"

"I'll be fine," assured Stardust. "But thanks again... you've certainly learned a lot from Twilight, haven't you?"

"Well... I mean, I'm not always a perfect student," replied a bashful Starlight. "But I really am glad that I get to learn from her."

 _Just as I'm sure Miss Shimmer is glad to learn what she can from you._

After she had safely gone through the portal, Stardust floated back down, and saw that the only ones left now were Twilight, Spike, and Discord.

"Let's get this over with," muttered Stardust, referring to the spirit of disharmony.

To his surprise, Discord shook his head, and said, "No need to worry yourself about me, Jack-Jack... _ta-ta_!"

Pulling out a _Mary Poppins_ umbrella from his pants pocket, Discord made his way up to the top of the clocktower, while Stardust shook his head. "Unbelievable."

Then, he looked over at Twilight, and gave her a warm smile. "Ready, love?"

Twilight nodded her head, and as she climbed into her boyfriend's arms, the young princess asked, "Are you going to miss seeing me... like this?"

"Well, I certainly won't forget, love," replied Stardust, grinning at her. "And as long as I'll always be able to make you blush..."

Twilight couldn't help but blush after hearing that, especially for what she was preparing to ask him. "Then, um... before we go, would you mind if I... if we..."

Stardust smirked, and raised an eyebrow at her, which made her say, "I mean, we've kissed in Ponyville, in Sunset's world... and we might not ever come back her for a long time..."

"I understand completely, love," replied Stardust, and the two of them slowly began to prepare for a loving, passionate kiss that would-

 _Whoosh!_

Spike leaped into Twilight's arms, getting in between herself and Stardust, and he said, "Come on, bro, I want to go home already!"

Stardust frowned at the small dog, and shook his head while also muttering to himself before flying up to the top of Big Ben.

* * *

I"Well... at least we're back to normal again!"

Stardust looked around, and said, "Yeah... _sure_..."

On a positive note, everyone was back to looking like their regular self, aside from _Super Sayian_ Stardust, and it looked like they were back in Ponyville.

"But why does it feel so different?" wondered Stardust.

Pinkie shrugged her small shoulders, and replied, "It's not like things could get any worse!"

 _"Well, well, well... I've been waiting such a long time for you."_

Everypony turned around, and saw themselves facing a pony that looked almost a lot like Starlight, but more... _evil..._ and her mane was in the original style that she'd had at her old village.

"Are you a clone of Starlight from the Mirror Pool?" Pinkie Pie asked, and the newly-arrived Starlight shook her head.

"No, and just for the sake of time, you can call me _Anti-Starlight_ ," replied the sinister unicorn. "But you're definitely _not_ heading home now... also, allow me to welcome you to _Anti-Equestria._ "

Pinkie Pie waited a moment before saying, "Okay, well... we are _technically_ in Equestria, so... things can't be worse than that!"

 _ **ROAR!**_

Everypony except Anti-Starlight looked up, and saw a _very_ familiar purple dragon with green spikes across its body.

"Um, Twilight, darling," pointed out Rarity. "I don't recall Spikey Wikey ever being _that_ big and... er, mean-looking on the day of his birthday."

Twilight was too speechless to speak, while Stardust said, "I'd hate to break it to you, but that does _not_ look like someone who wants to be called _Spikey Wikey._ "

Pinkie gulped, and once again, she said, "But, I mean... things can't be worse than that, right?"

 _ **ROAR!**_

The group of friends leaped away in different directions, trying to avoid being burned by massive green flames, and Stardust yelled, "Stop _saying that_ , _Pinkie_!"

" _Well, it can't!_ "

 ** _ROAR!_**

Anti-Spike first started to chase after Stardust, Twilight, and Casey, who all ended up running into the nearest building they could get to.

"Everyone okay?" Stardust asked, and Twilight nodded her head, as did Casey.

"I'm just glad for once that Pinkie isn't here to... you know..." said the orange-yellow pony.

Stardust nodded his head in agreement, but then, all three of them almost froze after they heard a _very_ familiar voice.

" _Well, look who has decided to join us this evening._ "

Casey turned around, and his body color began turning pale. "It's... it's..."

Stardust and Twilight turned around, and quickly noticed that they were in some type of restaurant.

Unfortunately, its occupants consisted of Queen Chrysalis, pony versions of the Dazzlings from _Rainbow Rocks_ , Tirek, the Tantabus, and...

 _"Oh, [BEEP]!"_


	12. The Battle Begins, Part 1

**My Little Pony: Good vs Evil**

 _Chapter 12 - The Battle Begins, Part 1_

 _Author's_ _Note - "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _"Has anyone seen Stardust or Twilight anywhere?"_ yelled Rainbow Dash.

Applejack dove behind a couple of barrels to avoid Anti-Spike's flamethrower attack, and replied, "Nope, but I hope they're doin' better than we are righ' now."

* * *

Casey gulped, and said, "Um, okay... you two have encountered them all before, right?"

"Not exactly," said Twilight, referring to Dazzlings since Stardust intervened in the events that would have introduced her to them originally. "Haven't you?"

Casey shook his head, and said, "I just watched from afar. Rowan was the only... um... why haven't they attacked us yet?"

Although the three ponies were now inside a restaurant that was occupied by almost every sinister villian they'd encountered in the past, none of them actually looked like they were ready for a fight.

In fact, most of them were hardly paying any attention to Stardust, Casey, or Twilight at all.

"Um... shouldn't you all be ready to beat the living tar of us?" asked Casey.

"Why would we do that?" Anti-Adagio asked, who was currently looking down at her meal that she was eating from.

Stardust and Twilight looked at each other, and the energized pony said, "Because you're all _villains_ that hate us, and you do terrible things to everypony else."

Anti-Chrysalis let out a laugh, and replied, "My dear child, we haven't shown any sign of cruelty to anyone."

"Unlike your other self and the rest of his friends," added Anti-Aria, who also wasn't looking at them.

"But why would you not... _ohhhh,"_ said Stardust, now understanding now what was going on. "You're all good in this world, aren't you?"

"Correct, Shiny One, we have not... is there something wrong, little pony?" Anti-Tirek asked, looking at an uneasy-feeling Casey.

"I'll be fine, but just, uh, stay seated at your table, okay?"

Stardust had never seen Casey look so uncomfortable before, but Starswirl quickly gave him an explanation as to why he looked so pale.

 _In his world, Tirek's battle against Twilight caused him to lose his parents and childhood home._

"We'll be okay, Casey," said Twilight, trying to comfort him. "They won't hurt us."

As Casey nodded his head, Anti-Sonata finished munching on her taco, and said, "Well, _most_ of us anyway... _he's_ done some pretty bad things."

They looked in the direction that she was pointing at, and Stardust chuckled. "Why am I not surprised?"

Sitting at a table that was almost hidden in the shadows was an alternate version of King Sombra, the former ruler of the Crystal Empire... and someone whom Stardust himself was very familiar with.

"And what exactly is **that** supposed to mean?" Anti-Sombra said, glaring at Stardust.

"Back in my world, you and I have a _lot_ of history together," replied a smirking Stardust. "In fact, you even tried to take over my actual body permanently."

Anti-Sombra rolled his eyes, and said, "Oh, **spare me** , young fool... In this world, I have done nothing like that, and even if I chose to do so, I would not waste my time on an insignificant pony like you."

 _I suppose that any version of Sombra has an immediate dislike towards you._

Stardust simply gave a small shrug.

"Well, does anypony here know where we can find the Crystal Mirror?" asked Twilight, looking around the restaurant.

Anti-Sombra looked at her with curiosity, and asked, "Why would you be interested in that?"

"Because the other me used it to take himself and his friends to our world," explained Stardust, who wanted to leave Anti-Equestria as soon as possible.

"I was _talking_ to the princess, not to you," growled Anti-Sombra, who glared at the energized pony. " _Anyway,_ you'll have to defeat Starlight and the large dragon in order for the Crystal Mirror to appear... since the other _Stardust_ foolishly assumed that none of you would be able to do that."

Stardust chuckled, and said, "Oh, please, I've ta... I mean, _we_ have taken on worser things than those two. Defeating them won't be a problem."

Anti-Sombra raised an eyebrow, and replied, "Yet you chose to lead your friends inside here, and have not yet left to help the rest of your friends that are out there?"

Stardust was about to yell back at him, but realized what he'd just said. "Good point... come on, love."

Twilight nodded her head, and before leaving, she looked at Anti-Sombra, and said, "Er... thank you for your... help."

"Of course, Princess Twilight," replied Anti-Sombra. "But I certainly hope you don't plan on making _this one_ your pr-"

 _ **ROAR!**_

"Okay, we gotta go," exclaimed Stardust, and he led the other two out of the restaurant, finding Applejack hiding behind a pile of barrels.

"Where in the hay have y'all been at?" exclaimed the hard-working pony.

"Not important right now," said Stardust, looking up at Anti-Spike. "Where's everyone else at?"

Applejack used her hoof to gesture at the area around them, and replied, "Probably hidin' like me to make sure we don't become barbecue by Anti-Spike up there... and we haven't seen the other Starlight since he showed up."

 _Whoosh!_

After making sure that Anti-Spike's flames did not reach them, Stardust said, "Okay, I'll lead the dragon away from here, and you can take care of Anti-Starlight, so that after, we can finally go back home, and end this [BEEP]."

 _"What?!"_ Twilight hissed, who was not that pleased with her boyfriend's plan. "Jack, that thing could-"

"I _know_ what he can probably do to me, love," said Stardust, letting out a sigh. "But you have to trust me that I know what I'm doing... especially since I'm looking like _this_."

 _ **ROAR!**_

Twilight tucked in her wings so that they wouldn't get singed, and she said, "Okay, but just _please_ be careful-"

 **[Insert "Molossus" by Hans Zimmer from** _ **Batman Begins**_ **]**

"Always, love," replied Stardust, and he rose up into the sky, looking at Anti-Spike. " _Hey, [BEEP], over here_!"

The large dragon turned his head to look at Stardust, who yelled, "Come on, Barney, let's see what you got!"

Anti-Spike let out another roar, them started flapping his wings, and he lunged towards Stardust, who suddenly disappeared right before the dragon could crunch him with his jaws.

 _"Over here, hothead!"_ The young pony cried, who had reappeared behind him.

The large dragon gritted his teeth in frustration, and as Stardust raced towards the direction that led away from Ponyville, Anti-Spike chased after him.

"Please be careful, Jack," said Twilight, stepping away from the barrels to look for the rest of her friends. "Fluttershy? Rainbow?"

" _Phew_ , thank goodness that he's gone," said Rarity, letting out a sigh of relief as she came out of her hiding spot.

Spike then came out from his, and after reuniting with Twilight, he asked, "Where did Star go?"

Before Twilight could reply, Anti-Starlight reappeared, and said, "Like I _said_ , none of you are getting back home."

" _Ha_! What are you gonna do about it?" challenged Rainbow. "Cause there's ten of us, and only _one_ of you!"

Anti-Starlight smirked at Rainbow, and replied, "Oh, I don't _think so_ , Dash..."

"What are you - _ow_!" Rainbow looked down at her hooves, which were now caught in a tight grip by miniature bear-traps, and she tried flying out of them, but that only made things worse.

The same thing had happened to everyone else, except for Twilight, but this made Discord say, "Oh, please, do you have _any idea_ who I am? I could easily get rid of these things."

"Not in _this_ world, you can't," replied Anti-Starlight, and she also used her magic to tie him up into a straightjacket. "Alright, where was I... ah, yes..."

She turned her attention back to Twilight, and said, "You're going to have to try and get through me if you want the Crystal Mirror to appear."

The alicorn princess began to prepare for a fight, but she still looked hesitant. "We don't have to fight, Starlight... and you don't have to make bad choices either."

Anti-Starlight rolled her eyes, and said, "Seriously, Twilight, don't you know the meaning of _Anti-Equestria_ , or why we all have _'anti'_ in our names?"

Twilight shook her head, and she replied, "You don't _have to_ be that way, though, Starlight... you can be a _good_ pony, not-"

"Ugh, you are _so pathetic_ ," exclaimed Anti-Starlight, and she used her magic to shoot an energy blast at Twilight, but for some reason, it was sent traveling into a different direction before it could reach her. _"What the heck?!"_

 _"Leave her alone..."_ said Starlight, who stopped using her invisibility spell, and appeared in front of Twilight. "Fight _me_ , not her..."

"Starlight, don't do-" began Twilight, but her pupil gave her a look that meant _'I got this'_ , and the alicorn sighed, then nodded her head.

"You _honestly_ think you have a chance against _me_?" laughed Anti-Starlight. "If you hadn't let yourself be reformed by these ponies, then _maybe_ you could..."

Starlight frowned, and she replied, "I didn't _let them_... I _chose_ to become friends with them, and as their friend, I am about to beat the... um..."

The purple unicorn looked at Twilight, and asked, "What's that one word Stardust always uses?"

* * *

"Spike, don't make me have to beat the [BEEP] out of you," exclaimed Stardust, as he continued to avoid Anti-Spike's massive jaws, which kept coming closer... and closer... and...

 _WHAM!_

Anti-Spike clenched his jaws tightly after successfully catching Stardust, but then, he felt something bouncing all around his mouth, and the dragon ended up re-opening his mouth to let him out.

"Alright, that is _it_ , you little..." Stardust paused to look at his body, which was now covered in dragon slob. "Oh, _come on_!"

* * *

Anti-Starlight let out a laugh, and exclaimed, "Well, then... let's see what _you_ can do, little pony."

" _Gladly_ ," replied Starlight, who used her own magic to levitate herself up into the air, as did Anti-Starlight, and she fired an energy blast at her.

" _Ha,_ you'll have to better than-" began Anti-Starlight, who had avoided the blast, but Starlight quickly fired another one, and it sent her flying back a few feet.

"Aw, what's the matter?" Starlight asked. "I thought you said I was _weaker_ than you..."

Anti-Starlight gritted her teeth together in frustration, and said, "It's going to take more than _that_ to stop me."

* * *

Stardust moved out of the way from Anti-Spike's flames, and said, "You aren't much of a talker, are you?"

 _ **ROAR!**_

"Yup, definitely not," said the energized pony. "Okay, Spike, you leave me no choice... but I have a home to protect..."

 _You don't know if this_ _will actually work, my friend._

Stardust smirked, and muttered, "Hey, if this is an MLP version of a super sayian, Starswirl, then this should most _definitely_ work."

Anti-Spike, who was growing tired of chasing Stardust, began to prepare for one last flamethrower attack while Stardust put his front hooves together, placing them in an outward position, and pulled back. "Time to finish this..."

The large dragon released his flames, fired straight at Stardust, who pushed his glowing hooves outward, and sent out a powerful energy blast.

* * *

As the two Starlight ponies landed on the ground, they both powered up their magical energy, and fired their own blasts at the designated target.

 _WHAM!_

They collided against each other, and it was now almost like a dangerous game of _tug-of-war_ , with Starlight and Anti-Starlight trying to gain the upper edge.

"You... have no chance... against me," growled Anti-Starlight. "What power could you possibly... ever have that I do not?"

A few drops of sweat trickled down Starlight's face as she replied, "The power... of true... _friendship_!"

Then, to Anti-Starlight's surprise, Starlight's energy blast started pushing back her own, and she said, "No... this can't be happening... I'm supposed to be the stronger one!"

"Well... you know what they say," replied Starlight. "You do not... mess with the original."

 _KA-BOOM!_

Giving it one more push, Starlight's energy blast went straight through the one that Anti-Starlight made, and created an explosion that sent the alternate Starlight flying very high into the sky, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

As for Starlight, who looked exhausted, she sat herself down on the ground, and said, "See, Twilight? I knew... I could... do this..."

The young princess smiled at her friend, and turned around to see everyone else being released from Anti-Starlight's bear-claw traps that were also starting to disappear. "Is everypony okay?"

"Well, _I_ certainly won't be if I can't get out of this accursed thing," exclaimed Discord, who was tossing and turning his body around while still wearing a straightjacket. "Fluttershy, could you possibly give me a hoof with this?"

Twilight walked over to Starlight, and she asked, "Are you going to be okay?"

Starlight nodded her head, and said, "I just hope that... Stardust had an easier job than me."

" _Funny... I was about to tell you something similar._ "

The two purple-colored ponies looked forward to see Stardust making his way towards them, still trying to remove what remained of Anti-Spike's salivia from his body. "So, what did I miss?"

"Well, I took care of... my other self," explained Starlight, as she began to stand up. "How'd it go with you?"

After flicking away the last of _dragon slob_ from his body, Stardust replied, "It wasn't easy, but I don't think we have to worry about that dragon anymore."

Looking at Spike, he added, "I also hope you don't have any intentions of ever being like _that_ one day."

"Nah, I think I'm good," chuckled the young dragon.

Stardust then noticed Fluttershy trying to help Discord remove the straightjacket, and he asked, "What happened to _you_?"

"Apparently my magic does not work in this world," muttered an irritated Discord. "And the other Starlight wrapped me in this... _damned_ thing that I can't... _aaagghhh!_ "

Stardust chuckled, and he said, "Well, I think it's an improvement."

Discord glared at Stardust, and he exclaimed, "Oh, _ha, ha, ha_... just use whatever new kind of power you have to release me from this _thing_."

"If that's what the cranky draconequus wants..." replied Stardust, and he made his way over to Discord.

"Alright, now just... _ow_ , not _that way_ , you... _aaaagghhh,_ you could at least _try_ to not... _OW!_ "

Stardust rolled his eyes, and held up the straightjacket in front of Discord. "I took it off, like, five seconds ago."

Everyone was now looking at the somewhat embarrassed draconequus, who crossed his arms, and said, "Can we _just_ go home now, please?"

As an answer, the _Anti-Equestria_ version of the Crystal Mirror suddenly appeared a few feet away, and Discord let out a sigh of relief. "It's _about time_!"

"You're welcome," muttered Stardust, but as they all began walking towards the Crystal Mirror, he began puzzling through everything that had just happened.

 **[Insert "Seizing the Spirit of Adventure" from** _ **Up**_ **]**

Noticing her boyfriend's expression, Twilight asked, "What is it?"

"Is it me, or did this seem a _little too easy_?" He replied, and Starlight gave him a look that meant _'seriously',_ while the rest of their friends began to jump through the mirror.

"No, I mean... yeah, the Crystal Mirror is here, but if this was all that we had to do, then my other self isn't as smart as I thought he was."

Before stepping into the mirror, Casey chuckled, and replied, "Yeah, he's making Rowan look like a genius."

The only ones remaining now were Stardust, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash, but the blue Pegasus pony suddenly stopped in front of the mirror.

"Rainbow?" asked Twilight, now feeling a little worried about her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, but... I have a strange feeling that something-" Rainbow then went from confused to worried, and she quickly flew straight towards Stardust, pushing him out of the way just in time to avoid being struck by a powerful ray beam.

As the two of them landed on the ground, Rainbow let out a scream of pain, and Stardust realized that one of her wings had taken the hit.

 _"Not so fast, little ponies..."_

The three of them turned around, and found themselves looking at Anti-Rainbow, who had used Casey's modified wristwatch device to fire the beam at Stardust.

"You still have me to deal with, and you ponies aren't going anywhere!"

Before Stardust could say anything, Rainbow shook her head, and exclaimed, "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

Then, she leaped away from her friend, and landed onto a surprised Anti-Rainbow, pinning her to the ground. " _Okay, get out of here_!"

Twilight shook her head, and cried, "We're not leaving without you, Rainbow, we can help-"

"I'm _serious,_ Twilight, leave before - _whoa_!"

Anti-Rainbow pushed off her other self, who was safely able to _not_ land on her injured wing, and she said, "There is no way that I am going to let you two simply walk through the-"

" _Leave them alone!_ " yelled Rainbow, and with her head ducked down, she ran towards Anti-Rainbow, acting like a battering ram to send her crashing into a nearby pile of wooden boxes.

Stardust let out a whistle, and said, "Rainbow, you don't have to do this, I can help you-"

The winged pony shook her head, and replied, "Just _go_ , Star, I'll take care of her, you and everypony else stop Anti-Stardust from-"

 _ **ROAR!**_

 _"What the [BEEP], man?!"_ yelled an upset Stardust. " _You're supposed to be-_ "

 _"Don't move!"_ Anti-Rainbow started running towards Stardust, but Rainbow tackled her again to the ground, and the two started wrestling around with each other in the dirt.

Stardust tried to run towards them, but Anti-Spike started shooting more flames at him. "You are _definitely_ starting to piss me the hell off!"

 _Jack, you must go now._

"No, Specter, I'm not-"

 _Starswirl._

" _Whatever!_ I'm not going to leave Rainbow behind, and-"

Suddenly, he felt a hoof on his shoulder, and turned to look at Twilight, who said, "I know this might seem weird for _me_ to say, Jack, but we need to go."

"Twilight, love, she could get hurt even more, and-"

"I know, Jack, but we also can't let Anti-Stardust destroy our world the same way he did to his friends," replied Twilight, and her boyfriend took one more look at the two Rainbows.

 _She'll be fine, Jack, but I fear that something worse is happening in our world._

Stardust sighed, and he yelled out, "You'd better come back, Rainbow!"

"Don't... worry, Star, I... got this!"

Nodding his head, and praying that his elderly friend was right, Stardust looked back at Twilight, and said, "Let's go."

As the two of them went through the Crystal Mirror, Anti-Rainbow looked down at her counterpart, and said, "He can't beat him, you know... he's already had the power for too long."

"What are you talking about?"

* * *

 _(Stardust's World)_

The Crystal Mirror began to glow, and one by one, everypony started falling out, landing on the ground.

First to arrive was Discord, followed by Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, and Applejack, as well as Spike, Sunset, Casey, Twilight, and last but not least, Stardust, who was now back in his regular pony form.

"So, _now,_ are we home?" asked Discord, rubbing the side of his head with his left hand.

Before Stardust could answer him, Applejack noticed that somepony was missing. "What happened to Rainbow Dash?"

 _"Oh, I'm afraid she won't be joining us for the moment..."_

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a black and rock-like substance started covering up Discord's body, and stopped after it reached his neck, leaving that and everything else above safe.

"What in _Celestia_ is the meaning of this?!" exclaimed the draconequus.

Several feet away, stepping out of the shadows was Anti-Stardust, who had a smirk on his face. "Sorry, but it wouldn't be a fair fight if you got involved."

Then, he was joined by Midnight (Anti-Twilight), as well as the alternate versions of Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy.

"Well, jokes on _you_ ," pointed out Pinkie. "Because we've also got Spike, Casey, Starlight, and Sunset!"

Anti-Stardust looked at the trio of ponies that Pinkie had mentioned, and he replied, "Ah, yes, I almost forgot about you three... but I'm not too concerned about the baby dragon."

While Spike started to frown, Anti-Stardust looked at his girlfriend, and asked, "Um, sweetheart, if you may?"

"Of course, handsome," replied Midnight, and she used her magic to make three small ball-shaped objects appear in front of them, which were colored in black, as well as letting out tiny bolts of purple electricity.

 _Why do those seem so familiar_? Stardust thought, and before he could say anything, the round objects opened up, releasing a burst of white energy that began sucking Casey, Starlight, and Sunset inside of them!

" _No_!" Twilight yelled, and she started to run towards the three round objects, but Midnight quickly used her magic to bring them back over to Anti-Stardust, who placed them inside one of his cloak's pockets.

Letting out a sigh, the alternate version of Stardust said, "Well, it's not exactly the ones trainers usually start out with, but they'll have to do for the moment."

As for the other Stardust, who had looked around the area, he glared at his villainous counterpart, and said, "You turned the inside of Twilight's castle into a _Pokémon_ gym battle field?"

"Eh, I figured, _why not_?" Anti-Stardust said, shrugging his small shoulders.

Stardust shook his head, and said, "Look, as much as part of me would like to see you get hit by a Thundershock attack, we don't have to fight."

"We don't?" Anti-Pinkie said, and when Anti-Stardust glared at her, she instantly closed her muzzle.

" _No,_ you do not," replied Stardust, still looking at his other self. "Come on, _Jack_ , don't end up losing your friends _again_... what would Sci-Twi say?"

Anti-Stardust gritted his teeth in frustration, while Midnight looked at her boyfriend in confusion. "What is he talking about?"

"He's right, Anti-Stardust," said Twilight, joining in on the conversation. "You still have a chance to fix everything you did in your world... a chance to bring everyone back... even Sci-Twi..."

The black-and-yellow pony looked at the young princess, and said, "You don't even know what happened to her, so how could you possibly-"

" _Oh, yeah, I almost forgot_ ," interrupted Pinkie Pie. "What _did_ you do to Human Twilight?"

"That is _none of your concern_ ," growled Anti-Stardust. "Besides, what makes you so sure that they'll all come back?"

"Because we've seen it happen before," replied Stardust. "And I don't need to be told by you that you did the same thing to her what you did to the rest of the EG versions of the Mane Six."

Growing more frustrated, Anti-Stardust slammed his hoof to the ground, and shouted, "That is _not_ my fault! If I hadn't been sent to _Canterlot High,_ then I would have never-"

"Look, I get it, we both don't like that world," exclaimed Stardust. "But if there is any reasons I could think of ever staying in that realm, it would be the fact that you have friends who care about you... and a girlfriend who loves you."

Once he said that, Anti-Stardust's anger went away, then he quietly reached into one of his pockets, and pulled out Sci-Twi's half-damaged glasses. "I... she... we..."

" _Whoa,_ that's cool, he has glasses like you, Stardust!" said Pinkie Pie.

Stardust rolled his eyes, and said, "Look, I know it sounds insane, but you _will_ be able to bring her back... and you don't have to be a bad person anymore."

Anti-Stardust continued to look at Sci-Twi's glasses in silence, and the color of his eyes were slowly turning back to their original blue-green... but then, for some reason, he tossed them to the side, and Twilight quickly used her magic to stop them from receiving any further damage.

 _"That's the difference between us, Stardust,"_ said Anti-Stardust, whose dark energy aura began glowing more. " _I enjoy being bad... it makes me_ _ **happy**_ _... and I'm definitely gonna enjoy beating the [BEEP] out of you."_

Then, looking at his own friends, Anti-Stardust said, "Let's have some _real fun,_ shall we?"

While the Anti-Mane Five nodded their heads, Stardust sighed, and he began preparing to transform back into his _super sayian_ form. "I'm warning you for the last time, you don't have to do this."

 _"Well, that's too bad,"_ replied Anti-Stardust, who was powering up his own energy, and then, once he was at a high-enough level, the villainous pony raced towards his counterpart.


	13. The Battle Begins, Part 2

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 13 - The Battle Begins, Part 2_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight. Also, the song "Trashin' the Camp" belongs to the Walt Disney Company._

* * *

As Applejack watched her friend start a fight against Anti-Stardust, she suddenly noticed Anti-Applejack walking towards her, and began to get into a fighting position.

"Well, just hold it for one apple-picking minute, Other Me," said Anti-Applejack. "Before we throw down, there's a lil' somethin' more important that I wanna try out first."

Applejack gave her alternate self a suspicious look, and asked, "And _what_ in _tarnation_ would that be exactly?"

"You're about to find out," replied Anti-Applejack, who then started yelling. " _Hey, Midnight, I need ya to make a barrel appear right here!"_

 _POOF!_

Now holding a barrel in her hooves, Anti-Applejack set it down in between the two of them, and placed one of her limbs on the top of it. "You, me, hoof wrestlin' right now."

Applejack just looked at her, and said, "Pardon, but did you say _hoof wrestling_? What about all the fightin' and-"

"I ain't do that much fightin' back in my world, AJ," explained Anti-Applejack, but Applejack was still confused.

"But y'all have the word _Anti_ in-"

Her counterpart shook her head, and explained, "That don't mean I _have_ to be an 'evil' pony... well, _all the time_... and in _my_ world, I'm the element of dishonesty, but one truth that I can tell you is that I have beaten nearly everypony that I know in this here activity, so now, I gotta see if I can actually beat _my own self_."

With a sly grin, the young pony added, "So, are you gonna just keep flappin' your gums, then?"

Anti-Applejack laughed, and she replied, " _Bring it, little pony_..."

* * *

Meanwhile, Rarity was trying to avoid fighting with Anti-Rarity. "Look, as much as I _hate_ that you so rudely threw me into the Human World, I see no other reason for us to fight."

" _Oh, really?_ " questioned the alternate version of Rarity. "Well, what if I told you that having Anti-Stardustruining your outfits was _my_ idea?"

The white unicorn gasped in shock, and then, she frowned, with an anger now burning in her eyes, as well as lighting up her horn with her magic. " _Oh,_ _ **it... is... on**_ _!"_

* * *

As for Fluttershy, she was standing by the half-frozen Discord, while Anti-Fluttershy was giving her other self an angry look.

"Well, are we going to _fight_ or not?"

The reluctant Pegasus rubbed the back of her neck with one of her hooves, and said, "Um, actually, I was hoping if you could just go back to your world without us having to fight at all?"

Discord nodded in agreement, and Anti-Fluttershy rolled her eyes. "Why would I do that? Anti-Star said that this place was a million times better than- _huh_?"

All of a sudden, a small digging hole started appearing in between the two yellow ponies, and after a few more seconds, a little white bunny popped out.

"Angel? What are you doing here?" said Fluttershy, surprised to see her beloved pet bunny, while Anti-Fluttershy looked at him with confusion.

Angel pointed at his wrist, as if he had on a wristwatch, and then his stomach, which made Fluttershy gasp. "Oh, my, I've forgotten to give you lunch!"

The small bunny nodded his head, but then, he turned around, noticing the alternate version of his owner, and looked at Fluttershy, looking as if he wanted an explanation.

"Oh, um, Angel, this is Anti-Fluttershy, and she, er... well, I don't really know much about her exactly."

Angel looked back at Anti-Fluttershy, who raised an eyebrow, asking, "Who is _this_ supposed to be?"

Fluttershy tilted her head to the side, and asked, "Isn't there an Angel in your world?"

"No, but I do have a girl bunny named Satin, and she looks almost like Ange-"

Then, to her surprise, a pink and female version of Angel came out of her own dug hole, and gave her owner a disappointed look.

"Did I forget to feed you also?"

Satin nodded her head, but then, she found herself turning around, noticing Angel, and both of their eyes grew wide like a pair of ping-pong balls.

"Huh, I never knew something like this would ever happen," said Fluttershy, with her alternate self nodding in agreement.

* * *

A few feet away from everypony were Pinkie and Anti-Pinkie, with the kinder pony asking, "So, er, are _we_ supposed to fight, too?"

"Well, your Stardust _did_ say that we didn't have to," reminded Anti-Pinkie. "And I _do_ know a way for us to have real fun..."

Pinkie's face started lighting up with excitement, but then, her alternate self said, "It has _nothing_ to do with parties."

" _Awww..."_ moaned the pink pony. "So, what _do_ we do to have some fun? You don't like parties, or singing, or baking cupca-"

Anti-Pinkie started waving her hooves around, and replied, "Whoa, whoa, _whoa_... I _never_ said that I don't like to sing. In fact, I know a song that _both_ of us can sing together, instead of me doing it alone."

"Okay, then," agreed Pinkie. "What's the name of the game - I mean, _song_?"

Anti-Pinkie chuckled, and began pressing buttons on a typewriter that was now in front of her. "After I hit these things four times, you break this lamp, then add the sound of a page being ripped out of a book, and whatever else you can think of..."

She then handed her other self a few objects, including a horn-like instrument, and Pinkie asked, "But I don't want to do something mean to whoever owns all this stuff."

" _Ugh_ , that all mostly belongs to me," replied Anti-Pinkie. "Besides, I do this all the time... oh, and don't sing until we get a pattern going, okay?"

She started using the typewriter again, and once it made a _ding_ noise, Pinkie ripped out a page from the book she had gotten from her, as well as tossing a lamp onto the ground.

Almost sixty seconds later, the two of them were creating a jazz-like tempo, and Anti-Pinkie started singing.

 _Shooby doop_

 _Dobby dop dobby doop_

 _Dobby dah dah doo dap_

 _Shooby doop_

 _Dobby dop dobby doop_

 _Dobby dah dah dobby op_

Then, Anti-Pinkie pointed her hoof at Pinkie, who began to sing along with her.

 _Shooby doop_

 _Dobby dop dobby doop_

 _Dobby dah dah doo dap_

 _Do bop she doo, whoo!_

* * *

Twilight quietly watched Midnight walk towards her, and the alternate version of herself asked, "Why aren't you preparing yourself to fight me?"

"Because it's like I tried to tell Anti-Starlight back in your world," explained Twilight. "We don't have to fight... and I don't want you to end up like her."

She then held up Sci-Twi's half-damaged glasses for her other self to see, and Midnight was now having feelings of confusion and irritation.

"But me and my friends all sent you to Earth so that we could take your place... you should be _angry_ with me!"

Twilight nodded her head, and she replied, "Believe me, I _was_ angry at all of you, but then I saw what Rowan tricked the other Stardust into doing something _terrible_ to his friends... to _her_... and I don't want the same to happen to you."

The unicorn princess handed Midnight the pair of glasses, and she was now looking at them like she'd once had them before.

* * *

 _(Anti-Equestria)_

Rainbow didn't want to give up, but she was smart enough to know that the longer she fought her other-self, the more harm it would bring to her injured wing.

"You aren't leaving until this fight is _over_ ," growled Anti-Rainbow, who was continuing to block her from going through the Crystal Mirror.

The young Pegasus sighed, and she asked, "Why do you want to keep doing this? I never did _anything_ to you in the first place!"

"It doesn't matter _why_ ," exclaimed Anti-Rainbow. "So just shut up and put your hooves back up!"

Rainbow shook her head, and replied, "I'm not going to fight you if it's just going to be pointless for the both of us... why are you being so hard-headed about this?"

" _You're one to talk_ ," said the alternate version of herself. "And how stupid are you to actually believe that _your_ Stardust would vandalize your home?"

"I'm _not_ stupid, I just made a bad mistake," yelled an upset Rainbow. "What, you think I'd need a tutor or something on friendship?"

Anti-Rainbow gritted her teeth together in frustration, and was about to yell at her again when something clicked inside of her head.

"What did you just say?"

Rainbow groaned, and she replied, "I said I wasn't _stupid_ to-"

"No, not _that,_ the other word," exclaimed Anti-Rainbow. "You said too... two..."

Rainbow then started feeling a little confused, and said, "Um... a _tutor_?"

"Yeah, that... word..." said Anti-Rainbow, and then, she found herself remembering a certain conversation.

 _Why didn't you just ask me to tutor you, Rainbow?_

 _Because I didn't think you would agree to it if I asked you, Star._

 _Well, if it was a subject that I myself had trouble in, then I probably wouldn't agree, but come on, you know I'm, like, one of the top students in that class._

 _... I thought Twilight was?_

 _Oh,_ _ **God**_ _, it was_ _ **one**_ _make-up test!_

Rainbow turned her head to the side, and asked, "Um, are you okay?"

* * *

 _(Stardust's World)_

After avoiding one of Anti-Stardust's energy blast, Stardust said, "I'm _not_ going to tell you again, Jack, just do the right thing, and fix your home world!"

" _This is my home now_ ," exclaimed Anti-Stardust. "And it _should've_ belonged to me from [BEEP]-in Day One!"

He then started to fire multiple energy blasts at Stardust, but the gold pony dodged them all, with ease. "Why the hell are you not fighting me anymore?"

"Because I am _trying_ to help you!" exclaimed Stardust. "I _know_ how terrible it may be to stay in the _Equestria Girls_ world for however long you were there for, but _literally_ erasing your friends from existence isn't worth it!"

" _I don't want your help_!" shouted Anti-Stardust, his anger growing even more. "And if you don't have the [BEEP]

to fight me... I'll _make you do it_!"

He tried to swing his right hoof at Stardust, but the gold pony reversed it, and after grabbing ahold of him, he ended up tossing his other self into the ground below.

 _That was a bit much, wouldn't you say?_

 _I'm trying to get the damn message in his head, Starswirl. Why is he so damn stubborn to... never mind, forget I said that._

He then lowered himself down to the stadium floor, and watched as his other self rise up from the rubble, now looking extremely ticked off.

"Had enough?"

Anti-Stardust laughed sarcastically, and said, "Oh, please, I'm barely getting warmed up... it's your own friends that you should be worrying about."

"Um..." Stardust looked around the stadium, and added, "I wouldn't exactly agree with you on that a hundred percent."

Anti-Stardust rolled his eyes, and said, "You are so freaking delusi - _what the [BEEP]?!_ "

The two of them looked at the two versions of Applejack, who were still hoof-wrestling with each other.

"Alright, if you win this one, then I get a rematch," grunted Anti-Applejack.

Applejack continued to try and push her opponent's hoof down, and asked, "How'd you figure?"

"Because if we don't, that would put us as a _tie_ , and I don't want to end on a tie!"

They turned their attention over to Rarity and Anti-Rarity, who were both trying to whack each other with a broomstick.

"How _dare you_ convince Anti-Stardust to ruin my dresses," shouted Rarity. "I spent _months_ making sure they were perfect!"

Fluttershy and Anti-Fluttershy were still watching the interactions between Satin and Angel, while Midnight was still looking at the glasses, and both Pinkie and Anti-Pinkie were close to finishing their song.

 _Ooh, shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah doo dap_

 _Shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah dobby op_

 _Wap pap pada doo wa wa!_

 _Shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah doo dap_

 _Do bop she doo, whoo_

 _Do bop she doo, whoo_

 _Do bop she doo, whoo, whoo_

 _Do bop she doo whoo!_

 _"What the [BEEP] are you all doing?!"_

Still focusing her strength on AJ's limb, Anti-Applejack said, "Just cool it for a there, Star, I'm a little busy!"

As for Anti-Pinkie, she stopped playing with her trumpet, and said, "Um... singing a song to have fun?"

" _You're supposed to be beating her to a pulp, Pinkie, not being a [BEEP BEEP]!"_

While Anti-Pinkie looked almost terrified, Twilight looked at him, and said, "Hey, you should know better than to treat Pinkie that way."

"I didnt ask to get a [BEEP] opinion from you, _princess_ ," growled Anti-Stardust, and before Twlight could say anything back to him, the gold-and-black pony swung his hoof to the left, acting like he was slapping someone.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Twilight let out a yelp of pain, and fell to the ground, her right cheek now stinging with pain.

"Twilight!" yelled Stardust, who found himself running over to his girlfriend as fast as possible. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm... fine..." said Twilight, even though her eyes were slowly starting to water up, and Stardust glared at his alternate self.

"You just made... a _serious mistake_."

Anti-Stardust shook his head, and said, "No, _you_ did... _six freaking months ago_... by taking what should have rightfully been mine!"

He then looked at his own friends, and said, "If you're _not_ going to fight to stay here, then you're just as worthless as Anti-Equestria."

Before they could even respond to him, Anti-Stardust's eyes started glowing, and as he raised up his front right hoof, four of his friends found themselves being lifted up into the air.

To make matters worse, Anti-Stardust imagined himself slowly closing his hand into a fist, and the four anti-ponies started screaming in pain.

" _Stardust, what the hell are you doing?_ " yelled the non-evil Stardust. " _Those are your friends_!"

" _No, I killed my friends,_ " growled Anti-Stardust, whose voice was changing, as well. " _These are just worthless copies who-"_

" _Stardust, stop this now!_ "

The sinister pony looked over at Midnight, who was now wearing Sci-Twi's glasses, and she cried, "Why are you doing this to our friends?"

" _Because I can_ ," replied Anti-Stardust, giving her a deadly look. " _Do_ _ **not**_ _make me have to do the same to-"_

 _BOOM!_

Anti-Stardust was suddenly sent flying into the wall, courtesy of a powerful energy blast that came from Stardust's hooves, and the four anti-ponies safely fell into the hooves of their counterparts.

"I'm not going to let you kill another Twlight," exclaimed Stardust, who was no longer in his _"trying-to-redeem"_ mode. "Because I'm about to send _you_ back to Hell!"

Twilight and the others were speechless, having never seen their friend this upset before.

"You wanted a fight?" growled Stardust, now walking towards his other self. "I'll give you a [BEEP]-in _war_!"

Anti-Stardust coughed a few times, but for some reason, he smiled at Stardust, and said, " _I was hoping you'd say that to me, Jack... but first, since the others are no longer fighting..."_

Stardust was about to ask what he meant, but his answer was received as he watched Anti-Stardust toss two of the black, round-like objects to the ground.

They rolled towards the others, and opened immediately, releasing Starlight and Sunset, who were both unconscious.

 _"And if you want to get rid of me, Jack, you'll have to go through_ _ **him**_ _first!"_

Anti-Stardust then tossed the third round-like object to the ground, creating an explosion, and everypony watched as he flew straight up, crashing through the roof, disappearing into the dark and cloudy sky.

As the smog began to clear away, Stardust could see an outline of Casey, and he let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness... I didn't want to be the one to tell your Twilight that-"

 _Whoosh!_

Stardust found himself being sent flying back into the open hooves of Twilight, who asked, "Are you okay?"

He nodded his head, and they both looked at their friend, who now looked completely different.

"No... not you, Casey..."

Casey smirked at Stardust, and his eyes shined dangerously as he said, "Face it, Star... you knew this would come sooner or later."

* * *

 _(The Time Zone)_

As he watched the tragic events unfold in front of him, Kronos sighed, and a sad expression appeared on his face.

"I can never bear to watch this part..."


	14. A New Creation

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 14 - A New Creation_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

As Casey waited for Stardust to make the first move, the gold pony could only think about one thing.

 _How in the heck is stuff like this happening in a show that's rated TV-Y?_

"Casey, please don't do this," pleaded Twilight, who was standing behind Stardust. "The other Stardust put you under some kind of spell, but you _have_ to fight it!"

"And why would I do something like that, princess?" asked Casey. "Everything that happened is because of _him_."

" _Me_?!" exclaimed a surprised Stardust. "Okay, if we're going to take that route, man, then I'm putting the blame on _you_ because if you hadn't shown up in my world that one day, then none of this would've ever hap-!"

Twilight glared at her boyfriend, and he started shaking his head. "Right, right, sorry... Casey, come on, you know that us fighting would be pointless."

Casey frowned, and asked, "Why? You don't think I can beat you?"

"Hey, those are _your_ words, not mine," explained Stardust. "And I'm only - _whoa_!"

The young pony quickly moved out of the way from his friend's energy blasts, and Casey yelled, " _Fight me!_ "

"I'm not going to fight you, man," replied Stardust, which only made Casey angrier, and he dodged another one of his attacks.

 _"Fight me!"_

The human-turned-pony shook his head, and said, "Listen, man, don't do anything that you'll end up regretting later."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to regret this," replied Casey, and before Stardust could reply, the young pony flew up towards him, beginning to trade blows with the gold pony.

 **[AN: Imagine a DBZ fight with the two fighters hitting each other at a fast pace.]**

"Casey, please, stop doing this," exclaimed Stardust, as he continued to dodge his friend's kicking and punching attacks. "All this fighting is getting us nowhere, and while Anti-Me is probably wrecking havoc upon Ponyville, your Twilight is waiting in her library for-"

"Leave Twilight out of this!" yelled Casey, his eyes now shining dangerously, and then, to everyone's surprise, Stardust was not able to block his friend's attack, causing him to fly straight into the ground.

 _"Puny human,"_ growled Casey, and he started to turn his attention over to the others.

" _Casey... what did you do_?" asked Twilight, looking up at him.

 _ **BOOM!**_

The orange-yellow Earth pony didn't get a chance to answer her because Stardust shot his own energy blast at Casey, which sent him crashing into a wall, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that the glowing pony now had a serious look on his face.

"Don't make me hurt you more, Case," warned Stardust. "I really wouldn't want to explain to your Twilight why-"

" _Stop... bringing... her up,_ " growled Casey, as he tried getting out of the hole he had made in the wall.

 _How is this not getting through to him, Starswirl?_

His elderly friend did not give him a response, so Stardust sighed, and looked back at Casey. "Look, man, is all of this really necessary?"

" _Of course it is_ ," exclaimed Casey, who had only been able to get one of his front limbs free.

Stardust shook his head, and replied, "No, Casey, it isn't... and trust me when I say that you have to fight whatever the other me put inside your head."

As he continued struggling with getting out of the tight-spaced hole, Casey glared at Stardust, and said, " _There is_ _ **nothing**_ _wrong with my head. I am not weak like you were when Sombra tried to take over your body._ "

At first, Stardust didn't say anything, but then, he brought his right front hoof back, and thrusted it forward to send out an energy blast.

 _"Jack, no!"_

* * *

 _(Anti-Equestria)_

Rainbow Dash continued to look at her speechless counterpart, who still wasn't saying anything. "Are you alright?"

"Um... I... I don't know," replied Anti-Rainbow, after a few more minutes of silence. "Wh-where am I?"

Rainbow frowned in confusion, and said, "This is _Anti-Ponyville..._ you and everypony else came from here, remember?"

Anti-Rainbow shook her head, and replied, "The last thing I remember is seeing Stardust on the rooftop, and..."

 _What is_ _ **wrong**_ _with this pony?_

* * *

"I... am _not_... _weak_..."

Casey opened his eyes, and he turned to the right, which was where Stardust had fired the blast, creating another hole.

"I can admit that allowing those terrible things to occur was a mistake, as well as the fact that I've put my own life in danger several times, but in no way am I _weak_ , and neither are _you_."

The orange-yellow pony looked at him with confusion, and Stardust added, "You are _not_ an _evil_ pony, Casey."

" _And how would you know that exactly_?" He growled, raising an eyebrow.

Stardust pointed at his friend, and replied, "Because you wouldn't be wearing that turtledove necklace if you were."

" _What are you..._ " began Casey, but then, after looking down to see the necklace, he stopped talking, and remained silent.

"And I am sure that your Twilight wouldn't give that to just anypony."

Meanwhile, Twilight was checking on Midnight, who was barely regaining conciousness again, and she mumbled, "Star... Stardust... no... please..."

As for Casey, he was looking at his necklace, remembering the day that the Twilight from his world had given it to him, and to everypony's surprise, his body started lighting up with purple electricity.

As his body began twitching around, Twilight walked over to her boyfriend, and asked, "What's happening to him?"

"Um, I'm not quite sure, love, to be honest with you," replied Stardust, but before Twilight could reply, they heard their friend let out a groan of pain, and shake his head a little before realizing where he was at right now.

"Why am I trapped in here?"

Stardust chuckled, and started to help him get back down onto the ground. "It's a long story..."

A few minutes later, he and Twilight led him back to the others, who were still attending to their counterparts after-

 _ **WHOOSH!**_

Suddenly, a force-field energy bubble appeared around the group of friends, except for Casey, who had flown back a little after bumping into it.

"Okay, what the _[BEEP]_ is up with this?" exclaimed Stardust, now annoyed with what was happening right now.

The answer came in the form of a dark and magical swirl of energy that appeared in between Casey and everypony else, which soon morphed into Anti-Stardust, who now looked very upset with the orange-yellow pony.

" _Hey, you stay the hell away from him!_ " shouted Stardust, but his counterpart simply ignored him.

"Why, you little..." With his eyes and front right hoof glowing again, Anti-Stardust made Casey rise up from the ground, and then, he slammed into the nearest wall. "You were supposed to be _hurting_ him!"

Before Casey could even respond, Anti-Stardust spun his hoof around in a circular motion, which caused Casey to be spun around multiple times before sending him headfirst into another tree.

"I am not... somepony like you," said Casey, now looking like he wasn't in any type of condition for a fight. "Who would... hurt their friends for no reason..."

" _I can't believe you -_ _aargghhh_!" Anti-Stardust walked over to Casey, picking him up from the ground, and pinned him rather harshly against yet another wall.

Back in the force-field bubble, Stardust was banging his head and front hooves against the field, trying to break through it, but it just wasn't working.

 _I_ _ **would**_ _try to blast my way outta this thing, but I don't want to end up having it bounce around in here!_

"Don't even bother, [BEEP]," growled Anti-Stardust, before turning his attention back to Casey. "No type of magic can break through that shield... you're all like rats caught in a trap... not even _Starswirl_ can help."

"I don't think Sci-Twi would approve of this, Jack," replied Casey, which only made Anti-Stardust grow more angrier than he was before, and the evil pony started slamming his body against the wall multiple times.

 _"You... don't... get... to... call... me... by... that... NAME!"_

 _ **THUD!**_

" _He's a monster_!" cried Fluttershy, who couldn't bear to watch what was going on anymore.

His body shaking with pure rage, Stardust thought, _I have just enough had it with this guy!_

As Casey began coughing, Anti-Stardust shook his head, and asked, "Why in the hell are you even here in the first place?"

The bruised and battered pony looked up at Stardust's other self, and said, "Because... I'm his friend... and... Twilight..."

Letting out a sarcastic laugh, Anti-Stardust said, "Ah, yes, _your_ world's version of the wonderful _princess of friendship_. She didn't really put up that much of a struggle when I kidnapped her."

Casey's eyes went wide after hearing him say that, and he cried, "You did wha - _aaauugghhh_!"

Anti-Stardust kicked him in his chest before he could finish talking, and he exclaimed, "One other thing... I can understand my other self being able to woo the alicorn princess, but you? You're just as bad as Sentry and that damn counselor."

The young Earth pony tried standing up, placing one of his hoofs on the area where his ribs would be, and said, "Okay, that... definitely... is not something that... Stardust would ever say... to me..."

"And how would you know that, huh?" growled Anti-Stardust, but instead of waiting for Casey to give an answer, he kicked the Earth Pony in his face. "You know nothing about us."

"I know... plenty..." said Casey, who could almost taste something unfamiliar in his mouth. "He cares for... almost everypony... even humanoid versions of them..."

He then tried his best to look up at Anti-Stardust. "You... could've been the same... way... if... you hadn't have let... Rowan get inside your... head... by tricking you into... killing your friends... your Twilight... and the real Stardust would never do anything... like that."

As Anti-Stardust gritted his teeth in frustration, Casey spat out some red liquid onto the ground, and said, "You don't even... deserve to be called... Stardust Balance... you're just a sad excuse for a fake version... of him..."

The yellow-and-black pony delivered one last kick to Casey's rib cage area, and as he watched him fall to the ground again, he said, "How ironic. Your Cutie Mark has a crescent moon, and now, you're about to lose your life under one."

Casey's eyes looked upward at the nighttime sky, courtesy of the hole that Anti-Stardust had created, and with the crescent moonlight shining down upon him, he turned his attention back to Anti-Stardust. "You are... wrong..."

"What the [BEEP] are you talking about?"

Casey tried again to stand up, and he replied, "I am not... going to... die... hopefully... because I am about... to stop you..."

"Oh, please," said Anti-Stardust, shaking his head. "You'd rather live to continue letting me beat the hell out of you than just die?"

Casey nodded his head, and Stardust's alternate self asked, "Why?"

"Because... I have friends that care... about me," replied Casey, who was now standing up, and as he spoke, the turtledove necklace that Twilight had given him back in the Crystal Empire started to glow. "And I'm about to - _ulp_!"

Grabbing him by the throat, Anti-Stardust glared at Casey, while hoisting him up in the air, and said, "None of your _friends_ can save you from what I am about to do to you!"

Having had enough of Anti-Stardust's brutality, Stardust was preparing to blast his way out of the force field, but his Cutie Mark pendant started to glow brightly, as well.

 _Um, Jack... ?_

 _Not... now, Starswirl!_

With a sinister smile, Anti-Stardust looked Casey straight in the eye, and said, "You know, if I can't have the Twilight from this world... maybe I would have better luck with _yours_!"

After hearing those words come out of the evil pony's muzzle, Casey angrily pushed Anti-Stardust off of him, causing him to fall back a few feet, and he cried, "There is no way that I am... huh?"

Finally seeing that his necklace was glowing, Casey did not know whether or not to be excited or concerned, but then, something else happened.

 _Well, this should definitely be interesting to see._

Stardust didn't get a chance to respond because, all of a sudden, he and Casey found themselves flying towards each other, and when they connected, their bodies became engulfed in a bright light.

" _Jack! Casey!_ " yelled Twilight, afraid for her friend and special somepony, but then, she felt a tap on the shoulder.

"Twilight, take a look at what's happenin' up there!" cried Applejack, pointing her hoof in the direction, and everypony saw a floating symbol that looked like a mixture of Stardust's and Casey's Cutie Mark.

 _I see no, hear no evil, black writing's on the wall_

 _Unleashed a million faces, and one-by-one they fall_

 _Black-hearted evil, Brave-hearted hero_

 _I am all, I am all, I am_

Then, it floated downwards into the light, and as the light slowly began to dissapear, Twilight quickly saw the outline of a pony, but was unable to see whom it was.

" _What is the meaning of this_?" yelled Anti-Stardust, who was now feeling a mixture of rage and confusion.

 _ **BOOM!**_

He recieved an answer in the form of an energy blast that caused Anti-Stardust to crash into the same hole Casey had been in earlier, and everypony else looked back at the pony who had fired the blast.

 _I... I... I... I am_

 _Here we go, buddy, here we go, buddy_

 _Here we go, here we go, buddy, here we go_

" _Welcome to your worst nightmare_ ," said the young pony, whose voice now sounded like it was Casey and Stardust speaking at the same time.

 _Go ahead and try to see through me, do it if you dare_

 _One step forward, two steps back, I'll be there_

 _(One step forward, two steps back)_

 _Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!_

He then took a moment to look at himself, and simply gave a shrug.

 _Can you see all of me?_

 _Walk into my mystery_

 _Step inside, and hold on for dear life_

"Um, do you have any idea who that is, sugarcube?" Applebloom asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion, but Twilight had no idea what to say to her.

 _Do you remember me?_

 _Capture you or set you free_

 _I am all, and I am all of me_

 _(I am, I am all of me)_

Once the light was fully gone, it gave everyone a better look at the young and bright-colored pony, who was now wearing a necklace that bore both Stardust's Cutie Mark as a pendant, and Pinkie said, "Well, _duh_ , anypony can see that it's Casey and Stardust mixed together into one super awesome super pony!"

"Um, you said _super_ twice, darling," pointed out Rarity.

"Of course I did," replied Pinkie. "Just look at him!"

Looking up at the glowing pony, Anti-Stardust raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Who the _[BEEP]_ are you?"

"That doesn't matter right now," said Casey/Stardust. "All you need to know is that I am going to beat the _hell_ out of you until there is nothing left."

 _I see and feel the evil, My hands will crush 'em all_

 _You think you have the answers, I'll laugh and watch you fall_

 _Black-hearted evil, Brave-hearted hero_

 _I am all, I am all, I am_

Anti-Stardust rolled his eyes, and growled, "Oh, _please_ , what can you possibly do now that you haven't done already?"

 _I... I... I... I am_

 _Here we go, buddy, here we go, buddy_

 _Here we go, here we go, buddy, here we go_

"I'll show you, _pal_ ," replied Casey/Stardust, and he grabbed ahold of Anti-Stardust, pulling him out of the hole, then throwing him up in the air.

 _Go ahead and try to see through me, do it if you dare_

 _One step forward, two steps back, I'm here_

 _(One step forward, two steps back)_

 _Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!_

Then, he teleported right above Anti-Stardust, and knocked him down to the ground, causing him to have a crash-landing. "Oh, ho, I ain't done yet, man."

 _Can you see all of me?_

 _Walk into my mystery_

 _Step inside, and hold on for dear life_

As Anti-Stardust barely lifted his head up, Casey/Stardust grabbed both of his enemy's back legs, and swung him from side-to-side, slamming his body onto the rock-hard ground.

 _ **WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!**_

"I haven't even gotten started yet," laughed Casey/Stardust, and after one last body slam, the energized pony picked him up, swung him around in a circle at a _very_ fast speed, then tossed him headfirst into a wall.

 _Do you remember me?_

 _Capture you or set you free_

 _I am all, and I am all of me_

 _(I am, I am all of me)_

" _What... the... [BEEP]?"_ gasped Anti-Stardust, but then, he was pulled out of the wall again, and Casey/Stardust started delivering a series of rapid kick-and-punch combos.

A few minutes later, he started spinning him around like a ragdoll, and after feeling like he'd done it enough, Casey/Stardust threw Anti-Stardust back down to the ground, and with a chuckle, he said, "Eat this, Sonic."

Then, like the famous blue hedgehog would do, he positioned his body into the shape of a ball, and began spinning in a circular motion very rapidly before flying back down to crash into Anti-Stardust's body.

 _ **WHOOSH! THUD!**_

An explosion of dust and rocks was created, and Anti-Stardust tried to get up, but he felt himself being grabbed again, then turned around so that he was now face-to-face with Casey/Stardust.

"Any last words before I send you back to the same place that I sent Rowan?" asked Casey/Stardust.

Before Anti-Stardust could reply, Pinkie suddenly said, "Um, I thought _I_ did that?"

"No, that was the other Pinkie," explained Twilight.

Anti-Stardust, who pretty much looked like crap, laughed at Stardust's question, and replied, "You don't... actually think... I would allow myself to _lose_ this so-called _war_?"

"Man, please, I could beat you with my eyes shut," scoffed Casey/Stardust, shaking his head.

"That may be true, but I figured that I would need a back-up plan in case something like this were to happen," explained Anti-Stardust, giving him a sinister smile. "And I'm already dead, so... if I can't enjoy the life that should have rightfully belonged to me..."

He paused his sentence to reach into his pocket, and pulled out a grey, rectangular-shaped remote that had a single red button on it, which he then pressed.

 _ **"... then, nopony can!"**_

Casey/Stardust was about to say something when he suddenly heard the sound of explosions around him. "What did you do?"

Instead of answering right away, Anti-Stardust quickly grabbed his counterpart's Cutie Mark pendant, and crushed it into tiny pieces.

"Oh, and one more thing... I never said that the force field was _unbreakable_ by something _other_ than mag-"

"Man, just _shut the hell up_!"

Casey/Stardust delivered a solid headbutt to Anti-Stardust's forehead, and as he collapsed to the ground, the glowing pony started feeling strange again, as well as being engulfed in a bright light again.

 _ **WHOOSH!**_

Suddenly, the two ponies flew in opposite directions, and Casey landed rather harshly on the ground.

"What... the..." gasped Casey, but then, he let out a yelp of pain, due to his ribs now being injured again, and to make matters worse, he heard the sound of several explosions nearby.

 _ **BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**_

Casey then looked up, and saw a giant piece of the roof now falling down towards him. "That... can't be-"

 _ **WHAM!**_

As for Stardust, he let out a groan of pain, and said, "I need a vacation..."

 _"Jack!"_

Hearing the scream of his beloved princess caused Stardust to look up at his friends, who were nearly five miles away from him, and as the explosions around him continued, he noticed that the roof was also crumbling into pieces.

" _Hold on, love, I'm coming!"_

Stardust started running towards his friends as fast as he could, but after running for two miles, he felt his legs give out, and Stardust fell back down. "What the [BEEP]?!"

 _It appears that your fusion form with Casey took up a lot more energy than we thought._

"Well, don't just - wait..." yelled Stardust, but then, he realized something. "Where is he, Starswirl?"

 _By now, he's reunited with his parents._

" _JACK!"_

Stardust looked back at his friends, who were still several miles away, and he saw that a house-sized piece of the roof was close to falling down on top of them.

" _NO!"_ Using whatever strength he could gather, Stardust continued to run as fast as possible, and when it felt like his legs would give out again, the young pony decided to take a giant leap.

" _JACK!"_

 _"TWILIGHT!"_


	15. A Second Chance, Part 1

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 15 - A Second Chance, Part 1_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while the Warrior of Twilight owns the character named Stardust Balance. I just own the story._

* * *

If this was the second time that Death had come knocking on his door, then so be it... at least he died trying to save his family...

"Jack?"

Stardust opened his eyes, and the first thing that he saw was the face of his beloved princess, who was back in her Earth form instead of an alicorn or her EG form.

He also realized that they were now in a world known to him as Twiliphia, which could only be described in words like "beautiful" or "perfect".

The skies were a shimmering gold instead of clear-blue, and warm snowflakes from the sky were falling upon them.

But right now, the only thing that Stardust had his focus on was Twilight, and he gave her a smile.

"If this is supposed to be where I spend my eternal life, love, then I am glad that I get to spend it with you."

As her girlfriend started to blush, Stardust let out a chuckle, and he gave a toothy grin. "I seem to recall you asking me a certain question back on Earth while we were still in these forms..."

"Oh, uh, well, that was just, ah..." replied Twilight, but that didn't stop Stardust from bringing her closer to him so that their lips could connect.

 _Every time we touch_

 _I feel the static_

 _And every time we kiss_

 _I reach for the sky_

A warm feeling soared throughout Stardust's body as he passionately kissed his girlfriend, who was feeling an equal warmth, and he was thankful of the fact that no one else was here to interrupt this special moment for them.

 _"Well, it's like what the humans say... still a better love story than that one vampire couple."_

After hearing that familiar voice, Stardust opened his eyes, and slowly moved back away from Twilight. "We aren't alone here, are we?"

The young teenage girl shook her head, and Stardust turned around to find himself looking at the smiling faces of Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike, and Starlight, as well as Sunset and Discord, who was sitting in a director's chair while also holding a high-tech video camera.

"I'm liking what I see for far, my boy, but is it possible for you to show _more_ passion?"

Stardust rolled his eyes, and said, "I don't need to be told on how to kiss my girlfriend, Discord... and why are _you_ even here?"

"Well, isn't it obvious?" replied Discord, who now had a halo above his head. "You act like I should be somewhere else."

As Twilight helped him stand up to his feet, Stardust said, "If Fluttershy hadn't played her part in reforming you, then I wouldn't be surprised if you-"

"Um, Stardust, darling?" interrupted Rarity, looking concerned. "You and Twilight might want to move out of the way."

"Why would we-"

Suddenly, everyone heard a familiar voice yell out, " _Party-cannon-ball_!"

 _ **SPLASH!**_

Pinkie Pie had decided to do a cannonball into a nearby lake, and it looked like the incoming water was about to go all over Stardust and Twilight, but then, it suddenly vanished into thin air.

"What the...?" said Stardust, who was grateful yet confused as to why they had not become soaked with water, and his answer came in the form of another familiar figure that appeared in front of the teenage couple.

 _"We wouldn't want your clothes to be ruined, correct?"_

 _ **POOF!**_

Pinkie was now next to Fluttershy, and the energetic teen, who was also surprisingly dry, cried, "That was so much fun!"

Ignoring his friend momentarily, Stardust turned his attention to the person in front of him. "Nice to see you again, Kronos."

"Likewise," replied Kronos, who had a small smile on his face. "And may I also say how proud I am to see you make so many right choices."

Stardust frowned, and he asked, "How does causing my friends' death count as a right choice?"

Kronos chuckled, and he replied, "It takes a very special person with a big heart, such as yours, to do the things that you did for your friends, whether it is self-sacrifice..."

He gestured towards the others, and this brought a smile to Stardust's face.

"... putting faith in someone..."

Stardust silently remembered his conversation with Rainbow Dash back in Anti-Equestria, but he also realized that Rainbow probably did not know yet that her friends were now dead.

"... or trying to convince someone that they are not who they think they are."

An image of Casey apppeared inside of his mind, and Stardust began looking around for his friend, but Kronos shook his head.

"He's having his own experience right now, Jack... just as you and everyone else are right now."

"Yeah, I figured that much," replied Stardust, letting out a sigh. "I just can't believe I couldn't try to save him from dying... or that-"

"Dying?" Kronos said, tilting his head to the side. "Whoever said that you were all dead?"

Now Stardust was getting confused. "Why else would we be here?"

Kronos tapped the side of his head with his staff, and replied, "It's what your mind chose to put you in, Jack."

"My... wait, so am I _not_ dead, then?"

The elderly gentleman shook his head, and replied, "It's technically more or less along the lines of a coma, per say... as are the rest of your friends..."

He snapped his fingers, and then, to Stardust's surprise, everything around him started to change, while his friends suddenly disappeared.

"What are you-"

"You'll see," replied Kronos, and after a few minutes, Stardust found himself back in the now almost-destroyed stadium, standing in the same spot that he'd landed at after literally taking a leap of faith.

Before he could even say anything, Kronos turned his body around, and Stardust saw that all of his friends, as well as the anti-ponies, were still inside the force-field, except they all now looked unconscious.

"Um... what exactly is going on?" questioned Stardust. "Did you, like, know all this stuff was going to happen?"

Kronos nodded, and he replied, "If I had not stepped in, Jack, then you would all definitely be dead."

Stardust was about to reply back to him, but Kronos held up his hand. "Let me finish, son... there are other people besides me, in other worlds, who choose to view a person's life as one would view a parade, seeing one thing after another, taking in only what is passing by right in front of them."

A smile then appeared on his face.

"As for _me_ , I choose to see life as a parade from above, seeing all of the twists and turns, and observing what events may or may not take place."

Stardust remained silent for another moment before saying, "So, you _did_ know that this would happen... and you saved all of us..."

"Indeed, I did, Jack," confirmed Kronos. "And now, I believe you have another important choice to make... regarding your other self."

Stardust immediately grew frustrated, and was about to start yelling at Kronos, but the elderly gentleman said, "I know what he's done, Jack, but you should know that the _you_ who Sci-Twi fell in love with is still in there somewhere, and I believe that you already know what to do."

" _No_ , I most certainly do... _ohhhh_ ," replied Stardust, who was now looking at Anti-Twilight. "This whole time?"

"She isn't the only one," said Kronos, but before the young man could say anything else, he added, "Trust me, Jack, you'll know what to do."

He began turning back the hands on his staff's clock, and was about to tap the ground a few times before Stardust said, "Whoa, hey, hold up a second..."

Kronos let out a sigh, and asked, "Yes, Jack?"

It was almost like a lightbulb had turned on above Stardust's head.

"Are... are you supposed to be like... an MLP version of Clockwork?"

Kronos smirked at Stardust, and before turning back time, he replied, "That's an entirely different story for another time."

 _ **WHOOSH!**_

* * *

 _"There is no way that I am - huh?"_

While Casey was realizing that his necklace was now glowing, Stardust blinked his eyes a few times, and said, "Huh... so _that's_ what it feels like."

"What does what feel like?" asked Princess Twilight.

Before Stardust could answer, he found himself being pulled towards Casey, and once again (in Stardust's case), the two of them somehow combined with each other to create a new version of Stardust, who now had Casey's mane instead of his own, along with crimson-red eyes that had replaced his usual blue-green ones.

 _ **BOOM!**_

After being sent into the wall (again), Anti-Stardust looked up at the glowing pony in front of him, and said, "Who in the... wait... _how the hell did you get that_?!"

Casey/Stardust looked at what he was now holding, and saw that it was the remote Anti-Stardust had used to nearly destroy the entire stadium.

 _Thank you, Kronos._

Anti-Stardust gritted his teeth in frustration, and yelled, " _I asked you a [BEEP]-in question!_ "

"Oh, I'm sorry, was this important?" taunted Casey/Stardust. "I wonder what would happen if I did _this_."

To Anti-Stardust's frustration, Casey/Stardust took a page out of his own book, and he watched the remote quickly melt in front of him, which also caused the force-field surrounding the others to go away.

" _Who the [BEEP] do you think you are?!"_

Casey/Stardust looked at himself again, and replied, "Good question... what do you call a Stardust and a Casey?"

"Starcase?" suggested Pinkie Pie.

The young pony thought about it, and he gave a small shrug. "Eh, why not?"

Anti-Stardust rolled his eyes, and replied, "Look, _Staircase,_ I don't care what you call yourself because I can still _beat_ you to death."

"Oh, _really_?" taunted Starcase, raising an eyebrow, and he started powering up. "Prove it then, [BEEP]-hole."

" _Gladly_ ," replied Anti-Stardust, who blasted away from the wall, and headed straight for Starcase. "Take _this_!"

 _ **WHAM!**_

Anti-Stardust's right front hoof connected with the left side of Starcase's face, and he started to smile, but then, Starcase turned his head back around. " _Seriously?_ That's the best you got?"

" _What?!_ " yelled Anti-Stardust, but before he could say anything else, Starcase pulled his own hoof back, and delivered his own right hook, causing Anti-Stardust to crash through the same wall he'd been in earlier.

Starcase shook his head, and he started to laugh. _Child's play._

 _"Rarity?"_

The young pony looked back at the now-broken wall, revealing the inside of one of the castle's many rooms, and saw a relieved Sweetie Belle making her way towards her big sister.

"What in Celestia are you doing here?" asked Rarity, as she began to hug and comfort her sibling.

"I was trying to... _aaaggghhh!_ "

Sweetie Belle realized that a resting Anti-Rarity was near her sister, who quickly cried, "Whoa, hey, just relax, darling, she isn't going to do anything bad to you."

"But-but-but..." exclaimed a confused Sweetie Belle.

"Your big sis is right," replied Applejack, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Is Applebloom with-"

" _Rainbow?"_

Starcase watched as Scootaloo headed over to the group of friends, and a look of sadness appeared on his face as he heard her ask, "Where's Rainbow at?"

 _ **WHOOSH!**_

Starcase quickly smiled as he saw the Crystal Mirror reappear, and watched his friend step out, with her injured wing now bandaged up.

" _Rainbow_!"

Scootaloo raced over to the winged pony, giving her a hug, and she let out a sigh of relief. "I am so glad you're okay... sort of..."

"Yeah, er, kind of a long story," replied Anti-Rainbow, who also came out of the portal. "You gonna be okay?"

Rainbow nodded her head, and Scootaloo looked at both of them, feeling confused. "Um, did I miss something? Why are you acting all nice now?"

Anti-Rainbow chuckled, and she said, "Let's just say that I got some sense knocked into me."

As the three of them continued talking to each other, Starcase began to frown in confusion. _Where's Twilight at?_

 _"Hey, Casey!"_

Starcase turned around, and he saw Anti-Stardust, who was hovering in the air, with one of his front limbs wrapped around Twilight's neck.

"Stardust, help me, please," begged the alicorn princess, unaware that her special somepony had fused with the pony who represented the balance between chaos and harmony.

"You leave her the hell alone," growled a frustrated Starcase.

Anti-Stardust let out an evil laugh, and shook his head, saying, "I don't think so, _Casey_... see, I _told_ you that if I could not have Stardust's Twilight, then I would try my luck with _your_ Twilight, and that is exactly what I plan to- _aauugghhh!_ "

All of a sudden, two ray blasts struck Anti-Stardust in the eye, and the sinister pony ended up tossing Twilight away, causing her to fall into Starcase's grasp, so that he could rub his eyes with his hooves.

"Nice one," said Rainbow, sharing a hoof-bump with her alternate self.

Anti-Stardust let out a furious roar, and he yelled, " _Who in the hell_ -"

 _ **BOOM!**_

A powerful energy blast sent him crashing into the ground, and Starcase shook his head again before looking back at his girlfriend. "You okay?"

Twilight nodded her head, and she replied, "Thank you, Stardust... is Casey okay?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Twilight became confused, and she asked, "But how would I- _oh_!"

Starcase surprised the princess of Friendship by giving her a slow and passionate kiss, and she soon started to return the favor.

Meanwhile, Princess Twilight was beyond speechless, and felt like her muzzle had dropped to the ground.

"Um, so does that mean _Stardust_ is kissing the other Twilight, or is _Casey_ kissing her?" wondered Pinkie.

Once the two ponies had finished kissing, Twilight slowly opened his eyes, and found herself staring at Starcase. "Um... Stardust...?"

Starcase shook his head, and he replied, "Try again."

Twilight then noticed the young pony's necklace, seeing the turtledove charm, and she took another look into Starcase's eyes.

" _Casey_?"

Starcase smiled, and nodded his head before saying, "Go join the others. I got some business to take care of."

He floated down to the ground, and carefully released Twilight from her grasp, with the alicorn princess walking over to stand by her parallel counterpart. "Are you okay?"

Not wanting to see the two of them argue, Starcase headed over to where Anti-Stardust had landed, and noticed that he looked almost like his old self.

" _Why... can't you just... kill me already_?" growled the sinister pony.

Starcase sighed, and he replied, "Because you still have a chance to correct your mistakes... to reunite with your friends..."

As Anti-Stardust lifted his head up, Starcase noticed that his eyes were now back to their original blue-green color.

"I already told you, a-hole... they're gone... and... Twilight..."

Starcase interrupted his somewhat counterpart to point at the others, and he said, "She's over there. You never lost her."

Anti-Stardust looked over at who he was pointing at, and saw that it was Midnight, who was still wearing Sci-Twi's glasses.

"What?"

Starcase nodded, and replied, " _That_ is Sci-Twi... she has been with you almost this entire time."

Anti-Stardust looked back at Midnight, who continued to remain silent, and he said, "Twi... light? Is... that... really... _aaaggghhhh_!"

Suddenly, Stardust's counterpart started screaming in pain, and he began moving around the stadium.

"What the hay is going on now?" asked Applejack.

As an answer, Anti-Stardudt knelt down on the ground, and he yelled, " _Get out... of my head_!"

 _So, this must have been what it was like for me,_ thought Starcase, and then, everyone heard a familiar voice speak to Anti-Stardust.

 _ **Don't you dare give up on me now, Jack! Is this not what you wanted?**_

" _Not if it means... losing my... friends..._ " shouted Anti-Stardust, who had placed his hooves against his forehead. " _I should... have never... aaaauuggghhhh!_ "

He started slamming one of his hooves into the ground, letting out cries of pain, but to Starcase's surprise, the anti-ponies started to make their way over to them.

"Come on, Star, you can win this," exclaimed Anti-Rainbow.

"Yeah, you show that evil thingy who the boss is," cried Anti-Pinkie.

"You can do this, Star," exclaimed both Anti-Rarity and Anti-Applejack, while Starcade let out a whistle.

 _Talk about deja-vu._

Anti-Stardust leaned himself against the wall, still gritting his teeth in frustration, and he yelled, " _Get... the [BEEP]... out of my HEAD_!"

Suddenly, the young pony started powering up, and he continued to scream. _"Aaaaaaggghhhhhhh!"_

Starcase was getting ready to fire another energy blast at him, but then, Anti-Fluttershy stepped in front of him. "Wait! Look!"

As Anti-Stardust continued to scream in pain and anger, the "black" covering his body began to turn into a gooey-like substance, and started getting away from the young pony.

"What... the... [BEEP]?" said Starcase.

Then, after what seemed like a long time, Anti-Stardust stopped screaming, and he collapsed from exhaustion to the ground, now looking like a more younger-ish, less weary version of Stardust.

As for the black and gooey substance that had left his body, everyone watched it slowly begin to transform into a completely sinister version of Stardust.

 _ **"I may not have him as my host anymore, but I can still-"**_

 _ **BOOM!**_

An energy blast had Evil Stardust flying back against the wall, and after landing down on the ground, he quickly went out like a light.

Everyone looked at Starcase, who raised up his front hooves in defense.

"Hey, that wasn't me!"

Then, to their surprise, another familiar voice said, "Looks like I came at the right time."

Everyone turned around, and saw who had spoken just now. " _Princess Luna_?"

"And Applebloom!" cried the little pony, suddenly appearing next to the alicorn who was also a ruler of Equestria. "So, um, what did we miss?"

Starcase smirked, and he muttered, "Better her than Celestia."


	16. A Second Chance, Part 2

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 16 - A Second Chance, Part 2_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to Hasbro and DHX Media, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

 _Also, the song "Getting Better" by Smash Mouth is owned by UMG._

* * *

As Applebloom reunited with her big sister, Starcase floated over to Princess Luna, giving her a conflicted look.

"Thank you, your Highness... even though I probably could have used your help, like, thirty minutes ago."

Princess Luna smiled at the young pony, and said, "It seems to me, _Starcase_ , that you did quite well on your own when it came to dealing with the alternate Stardust."

 _"Indeed he did.."_

Starcase turned around, and saw a smiling Kronos, who was now in the form of a unicorn that somewhat reminded him of Starswirl.

"That's a good look for you, son," said Kronos, smirking at the heroic pony.

" _Hardy har-har_ ," replied a sarcastic Starcase.

As for Princess Luna, who was looking at Kronos, she said, "This must have been a highly extreme situation if it involved you to leave your world."

"Oh, you have _no_ idea what the past few days have been like for me, your Highness," replied Kronos, who turned his head to look at Starcase.

" _Hey, I didn't do anything_!"

Kronos chuckled, and he said, "Of course not, _Starcase_... now then, if you will all excuse me, I have to take care of this pony before he wakes up."

As the elderly pony walked over to Evil Stardust, and placed him over his shoulder, Starcase asked, "What are you gonna do with him?"

"Let's just say that he will suffer longer than Rowan did," answered Kronos, giving him a sly grin.

Starcase was about to ask if he would ever see him again, but before he could, a portal appeared in front of Kronos, who stepped inside of it, and once it disappeared, Starcase instead looked at Princess Luna. "So... I take it you've met him before?"

"Many years ago, yes," replied the alicorn princess. "But all that matters now is that, hopefully, everything is the way it is supposed to be, and Kronos can relax peacefully in his world."

Seeing that Starcase still looked like he wanted answers, Princess Luna added, "There will be a time when you learn everything that needs to be known about him... however, in the meantime, I do believe that a certain young alicorn is waiting for you."

He turned his head to see that she was referring to Twilight, but when Starcase brought it back to continue their conversation, Luna was already gone.

"Oh, so _everypony_ decides to pull a Batman, huh?" muttered Starcase, rolling his eyes. "What's next, me acting like De-"

" _Casey?"_

Starcase turned around, looking at the young alicorn, and was about to talk to her when Princess Twilight walked over to them, as well, and said, "Stardust?"

"Yeah?" replied Starcase, even though his voice still sounded like it was Casey and Stardust talking at the same time.

Twilight and Princess Twilight looked at each other, and then back at Starcase, with both of them asking, "How is this going to work?"

"Uh..." said Starcase, not knowing what the right response was to say to them, but he quickly remembered what his evil self had done in a now-alternate timelime, so to their girlfriends' surprise, he suddenly crushed the Cutie Mark charm in his hooves.

 _WHOOSH!_

Once the pieces were all over the ground, Starcase felt himself being spun around, and he asked, "Alright, what is up with all of these magic sparkles around me?"

The glowing energy surrounding his body started to shine brighter, and the two versions of Twilight tried using their front limbs to cover their eyes.

As the light began to die down, Twilight lowered her front left limb, while Princess Twilight lowered her right one, and they saw their boyfriends lying on the ground, looking a little worse for the wear.

" _Well, I'm certainly not going to forget that,_ " muttered Stardust, his eyes spinning around in a dizzy fashion.

As for Casey, he actually looked worser than Stardust, and Twilight immediately took notice of this. "Okay, I need to get you to the hospital... can you walk, or-"

"Yeah, I think... I can manage," replied Casey. "Even though right now, I feel like [BEEP]."

He then looked at Stardust, and said, "Star, thank you... for... save... _ugh_..."

Casey suddenly fell backwards, landing in Twilight's open hooves, and the alicorn princess gave Stardust a worried look.

"He'll be fine, Twilight," assured the young pony. "Casey just fainted from exhaustion... you'd better get him to the hospital soon."

Nodding her head, Twilight carefully placed Casey on top of herself, and she quickly flew towards the Crystal Mirror, while Stardust sighed. _Some good friend I am to him._

"You okay, Jack?"

He turned his head to look at his own Twilight, and replied, "Yeah, I just-"

" _Stardust, you're okay!"_

Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared from behind, and wrapped her front limbs around Stardust, hugging him tightly, as well as spinning him around several times, while Twilight couldn't stop herself from giggling.

"Pinkie... as much as I care about you," groaned Stardust, after his energetic friend finally stood still. " _Please_ do not spin me around anymore."

"Huh? Oh, right, sorry," apologized Pinkie, and she released him from her bear-hugging grip.

* * *

A few feet away, EG Stardust was starting to wake up, and to his surprise, all of his friends were in front of him.

"You okay there, Star?" asked Anti-Applejack.

EG Stardust rubbed the side of his head with his hoof, and replied, "I, uh, think so... er... but I thought that..."

 _"You didn't kill them, Jack."_

He and everypony else looked to see the approaching Stardust, joined by Twilight, and EG Stardust replied, "I don't think I understand."

"Neither do I, honestly," admitted Stardust, giving a shrug. "But all I can say is that you were able to somehow _not_ kill your friends while Rowan's magic was trying to take control of you... and you didn't even realize that they were with you this entire time."

His EG counterpart remained quiet for a moment before sighing, and he gave Stardust an apologetic look. "Listen, um... Other Me... I just want to, er, say that I'm sorry for... well..."

"Hey, trust me, I've sort-of been through the same thing," replied Stardust, much to his counterpart's surprise. "Possession is a real [BEEP] to human-turned-ponies like us."

"Ain't that the truth?" chuckled EG Stardust, feeling a little better. "But, er, thank you for helping me learn an important lesson."

"Oh?" said Twilight. "And what lesson would that be?"

EG Stardust gave the two of them a smile, and replied, "I learned that the circumstances of where a person spends his life is irrelevant... it's what you do with the gift of friendship that determines who you are."

 _Why does that sound so familiar?_ wondered the young pony.

With all of that being said, the Crystal Mirror suddenly appeared next to them, and one-by-one, the anti ponies stepped inside, heading back presumably to their own world.

Midnight (or, in this case, Sci-Twi) was getting ready to jump through the portal when she realized that EG Stardust still hadn't moved from his spot. "You okay, Star?"

"I am a little better," replied the young teenager-turned-pony. "But there's a few things that I have to take care of here first."

He gave Stardust and Twilight a smile, and Stardust asked, "Stuff like what?"

* * *

 _It's getting better all the time_

The first thing that EG Stardust decided to was turn Twilight's castle back to its original state.

"How are you doi-" began Stardust, but then, he noticed that his other self was wearing a geode necklace. "Never mind, forget I ever asked."

 _I used to get mad at my school_

 _(No, I can't complain)_

 _The teachers who taught me weren't cool_

 _(No, I can't complain)_

 _You're holding me down, turnin' around_

 _Feeling me up with your rules_

Unfortunately, all of the interior damage that had been done during Anti-Stardust's fights with Stardust, Casey, and Starcase had ended up destroying certain parts of the castle, so EG Stardust decided to use his magic to help fix the damage, along with some help from Starlight and Sunset.

 _I've got to admit, it's getting better_

 _(Better)_

 _A little better all the time_

 _(No, I can't complain)_

 _I have to admit, it's getting better_

 _(Better)_

 _A little better since you've been mine_

Once they had both finished rebuilding the final part of the castle that had recieved damage, EG Stardust looked at Sunset, and said, "Um, Sunset? I'm sorry for the whole thing that happened... with, er, your-"

The yellow unicorn chuckled, and she replied, "Thank you for your apology... but, um, maybe we should try to pretend like it never happened, okay?"

EG Stardust immediately nodded his head. "Done."

 _I used to be an angry young man_

 _Be hiding my head in the sand_

 _You gave me the word, I finally heard_

 _I'm doing the best that I can, yeah._

At Rainbow's house, the injured pegasus was almost 90% done with removing the offensive language that had been spray painted all over her walls.

"Here, let me help you with that."

Rainbow turned around, and to her surprise, she saw EG Stardust using his own soap-and-scrubbing-brush on the graffiti.

"Um, you don't have to..." began Rainbow, but EG Stardust shook his head.

"I know I don't have to, but I want to," explained the young pony. "It'll make me feel better."

To his own surprise, Rainbow simply nodded her head, and said, "Alright... thanks."

He watched her walk away to a different part of the house, and wondered how much longer she would be acting the way she was right now.

"I sure hope the other me can fix this."

 _I've got to admit, it's getting better_

 _(Better)_

 _A little better all the time_

 _(No, I can't complain)_

 _I have to admit, it's getting better_

 _(Better)_

 _It's getting better since you've been mine_

After explaining to Granny Smith about what had really happened involving the Apple Family farm, EG Stardust was now using his magic to repair the damage he'd caused to the barn.

"Thanks so much, Other Star," said the hard-working Earth Pony. "It warms my heart to see you tryin' to right all of your, um, non-intentional wrongs."

EG Stardust nodded his head, and said, "My pleasure, AJ... besides, I had to find some way to convince your grandma to no longer attack the other me if he were to show up again."

Applejack chuckled, and replied, "Well, I sure do appreciate that, so thank you."

 _Getting so much better all the time_

 _(It's getting better all the time)_

 _(Better, better, better)_

 _It's getting better all the time_

 _(Better, better, better)_

When Rarity had returned to her home, with more supplies to be used for her ruined outfits, she was surprised to see EG Stardust using his magic to restore all of her dress creations.

"Thank you, darling," said the marshmallow-colored unicorn, after he had finished several minutes later.

Letting out a yawn, EG Stardust also stretched his front limbs, and said, "You're welcome, and it was the least that I could do... also, I am sorry for any stress that I may have given you regarding all of this."

"Oh, to-mah-to, tomato," replied a smiling Rarity. "Let's try not to dwell too much into the past."

EG Stardust found himself letting out a small laugh as he said, "You're telling me."

 _I, I have to admit it's getting better_

 _(Better)_

 _A little better all the time_

 _(No, I can't complain)_

 _You're stressed, I admit it's getting better_

 _(Better)_

 _It's getting better since you've been mine_

 _Getting so much better all the time_

* * *

Now back in Twilight's library, in front of the Crystal Mirror, EG Stardust was about to return to his own world when he heard the voice of his counterpart.

"Thought you'd leave without saying good-bye?"

Stardust smirked at him, and raised an eyebrow.

"I figured that you wouldn't want to see me again," replied EG Stardust, shrugging his shoulders. "After... all the things that I put you-"

"Hey, don't worry, it's fine, I get it," assured Stardust, putting a hoof on his other self's shoulder. "Just remember that, even though you're in the world of _Equestria Girls,_ all that really matters is the memories you create with the people you care most of about."

EG Stardust looked at his counterpart, and said, "Okay, I know we're not, like, _twins_ or anything, but I figured you'd try to curse me out, or even-"

"Maybe if you had run into the _old me_ ," explained Stardust. "But I've changed a lot since my first day in Ponyville... _and_ my head's a little mixed up right now after the whole _fusion_ thing, so leave before I _do_ end up doing something _really_ bad to you."

EG Stardust nodded his head, and the two of them politely shared a hoofshake, but right before he could leave, another familiar voice started to speak.

 _"You don't actually think this is over, do you?"_

Then, from out of nowhere, Kronos appeared in front of the Crystal Mirror, and Stardust groaned. "Is this gonna become a regular thing with you?"

"Just relax, Jack, I came to talk to _him_ ," replied Kronos, who was pointing a hoof at EG Stardust, and the young pony's counterpart rolled his eyes.

"Look, Time Guy, I already learned my lesson, so why don't you-"

Kronos let out a laugh, and he shook his head. "While that may be true, it simply does not erase all of the damage and pain you brought to the worlds you went to, as well as everpony else you came into contact with..."

"Oh, come _on_ ," replied EG Stardust, who was getting a little annoyed. "It's _just_ as bad as what Sunset or Midnight or the Sirens or even Gloriosa tried to do, and _nothing_ happened-"

"Well, in _your_ case, it's a completely different story," said Kronos, giving him a serious look. "Because of your actions, an innocent Earth Pony is in the hospital, _and_ you could have almost caused utter destruction to your own world."

Before EG Stardust could say anything back at him, Kronos added, "You also made the CMC's and Casey's Twilight your prisoners, as well as almost creating a paradox and upsetting the natural order of balance by sending _Jack_ back to Earth, which could have turned in a terrible catastrophe."

" _He does have a point,_ " muttered Stardust, nodding his head in agreement, and EG Stardust sighed.

"Okay, so what happens? You turn me over to the intergalactic feds, community service, the Undertaker, what?"

Giving a small chuckle, Kronos shook his head, and replied, "You must prove to me that you truly _can_ enjoy your life in the _Equestria Girls_ world with your friends and beloved girlfriend by your side.. _._ there _is_ a reason why you were sent to that world, after all."

EG Stardust raised an eyebrow, and he asked, "And what hapens if I choose _not_ to do any of this stuff?"

A slight frown appeared on Kronos' face, and there was a little edge in his voice as he said, "Keep in mind, _boy_ , that this is actually what the humans call _'going easy on you_ '... the _other_ option would be for you to serve a year-long punishment in a world that you could not probably last even _one_ day in."

"And what would that be exactly?"

Instead of giving a vocal answer, Kronos snapped his fingers, and EG Stardust disappeared, much to Stardust's surprise. " _Hey!_ What was-"

" _Just wait_ ," said Kronos, and a few seconds later, he snapped his fingers again, which brought back EG Stardust, who now looked completely horrified.

"I take it you would rather continue enjoying your life in the _EG_ World?"

Stardust's counterpart nodded his head, and Kronos now felt satisfied. "Good, and if all goes well, this will be the last time you will ever see me... Pray that it _stays_ that way."

With that, the elderly pony quickly vanished into thin air, and for a moment, neither of the two Stardusts said a word.

Then, Stardust cleared his throat, and he asked, "Where did you go?"

EG Stardust did a small gulp, and he replied, "I... um... would prefer _not_ to talk about it, if that is alright with you."

"Um... okay, yeah, sure," said Stardust, feeling a little confused.


	17. A New Star, Part 1

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 16 - A New Star, Part 1_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Hasbro._

* * *

 **A few days later...**

As he walked down the street, listening via earbuds to the music coming from his iPod, EG Stardust found himself singing along to what was currently playing.

 _My sanctuary, my sanctuary, yeah_

 _Where fears and lies melt away_

 _Music inside_

However, once he reached a street corner, EG Stardust stopped moving, and he removed his earbuds, having sensed that something bad was happening.

 _"Give me your wallet!"_

And he was right... a few feet away, EG Stardust saw that a mean-looking thug had an innocent civillian at gunpoint, as well as having him pinned against the wall.

"Look, sir, I don't want any trouble, I just want to get my car-"

" _Just give me your wallet_!"

 _Not on my watch, [BEEP],_ thought EG Stardust, and he started running over to the nearest phone booth.

 **[Insert "Superman Returns - Main Titles" by John Ottman]**

Once he was inside, EG Stardust began removing his clothes, which included his hoodie, shirt, jeans, socks, and even his sneakers.

"Alright, now that I've taken care of that, time to suit up."

Reaching into his backpack, EG Stardust pulled out a superhero suit that EG Rarity had made for him, but it took a few attempts for him to succesfully put it on.

Then, right as he was about to put on the mask, EG Stardust groaned, and said, "I have to call Twilight... okay, where's my walle- oh wait, no one carries change anymore... ah, here we go, my cell!"

Now holding onto the cellular device, EG Stardust began calling his girlfriend, and once he heard the _"click"_ sound of Sci-Twi answering the phone, he said, "Hey, uh, I'm gonna be a little late. Something came up."

While Sci-Twi gave her response, EG Stardust nodded his head, and then, once she finished talking, he replied, "Thank you, love... um, I will be there in about ten-"

 _ **BOOM!**_

After hearing the gunshot, EG Stardust gulped, and said, "Make that twenty minutes, love."

Once he hung up the phone, the young teenager put on his mask, got out of the phone booth, and as he made his way back to where the thug had been, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion.

 _And they say_

 _That a hero could save us_

 _I'm not gonna stand here and wait_

 _I'll hold onto the-_

 _ ***Record Scratch***_

Unfortunately, after reaching the alley, EG Stardust stopped in his tracks, and saw that the thug had already left, with his victim now sprawled out on the ground

" _Oh, [BEEP], that not's good,_ " said EG Stardust, shaking his head. "Nope... you're not gonna walk that one off, nuh-uh..."

Then, he let out a sigh, and added, "Man, I spent _way too long_ in that phone booth... you know, honestly, I probably should have just called 9-1-1, but then, I would have had to ask someone for change cause who the [BEEP] carries _change_ anymore?"

Of course, the dead victim wasn't answering, so EG Stardust simply shrugged, and continued with his monologue.

"Well, I guess there _are_ some positives to this... I mean, I've done the brony community a huge favor, and yes, even though I've always said that you were a [BEEP]-in cardboard cutout who didn't need to be a love interest, I think that... nope, never mind, doesn't change a thing...

"And also, what the _[BEEP]_ is a phone booth doing at a street corner? I thought they ended up like Hollywood Video and Blockbuster... eh, I could've probably used my cell, though."

 _Stardust_

"But then, I would have to explain my girlfriend that I'd be late to our plans for prom-"

 _STARDUST!_

* * *

" _KRONOS!"_ yelled EG Stardust, lifting his head up, and waking up from his dream.

 _"Stardust..."_

The young teenager looked around the classroom, seeing that he was still in English class, and he saw that all of the students were staring at him.

He turned to look at the person sittting in the desk next to him, who was Rainbow Dash, and the athletic teenager slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand.

 _"Over here, Mr. Stardust..."_

Turning himself to look in a straight direction, EG Stardust looked at his English teacher, Mr. Saber, who was someone that did not enjoy having him as a student.

In EG Stardust's case, he did not enjoy having him as a teacher, but heck, the school year was almost over in just a few months, anyway...

"Why did you say the name of a password that came from a movie?" asked Mr. Saber, who had his arms crossed, and was giving EG Stardust a mean-eyed look.

EG Stardust rolled his eyes, and he replied, "It _wasn't_ a password, Kronos is-"

"Stay after class once the bell rings."

The young teen's mouth almost dropped to the top of his desk. " _What, why? I didn't even-_ "

" _After class_ ," growled Mr. Saber, and as he continued with teaching today's lesson, EG Stardust groaned.

 _"Son of a [BEEP]..."_

* * *

 _ **Meanwhile, in Equestria**_

It was now the day after all of the anti-ponies had gone back to their world, and Stardust was currently asleep, lying in his bed, fully intending on not waking up until he chose to.

Or so he thought.

 _"Mornin', sugarcube!"_

Still laying in bed, Stardust groaned, and he said, "AJ, please tell me that nobody ruined the-"

"Nope, nothin' bad happened," assured Applejack. "Now, come on, get yourself outta that bed, you gotta do my chores. The sooner you get 'em done, the sooner you get to come back."

"Says who?" replied the young Earth pony. "You never won that bet."

Applejack chuckled, and she shook her head. "I beg to differ, Star..."

Barely lifting his head up, Stardust opened his eyes, and watched his friend perform the dance that she had learned back in the Human World.

 _Pop it, lock it_

 _Polka dot it_

 _Countrify then hip hop it_

 _Put your hawk in the sky_

 _Side to side_

 _Jump to the left_

 _Stick it, glide_

 _Zig zag cross the floor_

 _Shuffle in diagonal_

 _When the drum hits_

 _Hands on your hips_

 _One foot it, 180 twist_

 _And then a, zig zag_

 _Step, slide_

 _Lean it left_

 _Clap three times_

 _Shake it out_

 _Head to toe_

 _Throw it all together_

 _That's how we roll_

Once Applejack was back on all fours, Stardust groaned, and said, "You... have got... to be _[BEEP]-in kidding_..."

The hard-working Earth pony sighed, and she said, "Come on now, Star, the sooner you finish them up today, the sooner you can get back to sleep. Alright?"

 _You are a man of your word most of the time, Jack._

"Not _now_ , Starswirl," muttered Stardust, and he slowly began to climb out of bed. "Alright, AJ, you win... but that's the last time I make a bet with you."

Applejack just gave him a sheepish smile.

* * *

 _"Equestria Girls" World_

A half-hour later, once all of the other students had left, EG Stardust went up to the teacher's desk, as did EG Rainbow, to his surprise.

"You do not _have_ to stay here, Miss Dash," reminded Mr. Saber, but the young female teenager shook her head, so he turned his attention back to EG Stardust. "That's the fifth time you have fallen asleep in my class, Mr. Stardust."

"Hey, not my fault you make this class so boring," replied EG Stardust. "Besides, I have a reason for falling asleep."

Mr. Saber raised an eyebrow, and he said, "I hope it's not like the times when you told me about you having to deal with _anime demons_ , magic-stealing sirens, and a careless camp counselor?"

"Er..." EG Stardust gave a sheepish laugh, and said, "Well, to be honest, I-"

Mr. Saber sighed, and he replied, "Just forget it... and you'll have plenty of time to doze off in _detention_."

" _What, why?!"_ yelled EG Stardust, and his temper was starting to grow.

"For falling asleep in class... _again_ ," reminded his teacher. "You also have yet to re-take the test you missed several days ago."

After he was handed a test paper, EG Stardust groaned, and he muttered, "Fine, so when do I show up back here, huh?"

Mr. Saber let out a chuckle, and he shook his head, saying, "Oh, no, Mr. Stardust, you are not going to serve detention in here... you're going to the _special_ detention room... in Mr. Larson's class... after school _today_."

EG Stardust blinked his eyes a few times, and then, he exclaimed, "Why the _[BEEP]_ do I got to serve detention in-"

"Do not make me have to give you _double detention_ , Mr. Stardust," replied Mr. Saber, and Stardust looked almost ready to explode in anger, but EG Rainbow pushed her friend out into the hallway before he could say anything else.

A few minutes later, inside of an empty classroom, EG Rainbow said, "You _need_ to calm down, Star."

" _Calm down_?" exclaimed the irritated teenager. "Rainbow, how in the _hell_ am I supposed to-"

Suddenly, he noticed the worried look on his friend's face, as well as hearing a familiar voice in his head.

 _Prove to me that you can enjoy your life, your friends, and your beloved girlfriend._

EG Stardust sighed, and he replied, "Alright, _fine_ , I'm sorry... but that damn detention class is not going to help me out with that in any way."

"Oh, come on, Star, how bad could it be?"

* * *

 _Several Hours Later_

Detention in Mr. Larson's room was definitely not a pretty sight.

It was filled with most of the rudest, loudest, strangest, and just down-right _most horrible_ students to ever attend CHS, except for EG Stardust.

As he got to the final set of questions, EG Stardust's concetration was broken by the angry sounds of a large and barking dog.

"Hey, uh, I don't think those kind of-"

" _You leave Garble alone_!" yelled the barking dog's owner, and the dog continued barking at EG Stardust.

 _Just finish the test, Star, just finish the test._

"Can someone please help me down?" asked Mr. Larson, who was hanging upside down via a lengthy rope that was wrapped around his whole body.

 _BARK! BARK! BARK! BARK!_

As paper airplanes and rolled-up pieces of paper were thrown across the room, EG Stardust groaned, and dropped his head against the desk. _I can't believe I have to put up with this for thirty [BEEP]-in more minutes!_

Then, a few minutes later, EG Rainbow appeared in the room, and she went up to the teacher's desk. "Uh, Mr. Larson? The principal wants to see Star right away."

"Are you done with your test, Mr. Stardust?" asked the tied-up teacher.

" _[BEEP] yes, I am_!" cried EG Stardust, lifting his head back up.

"Alright, you may go once you bring me the test pa-"

 _WHOOSH!_

EG Stardust raced to the teacher's desk, and followed his friend to the door.

"What does Celestia want me for?"

EG Rainbow looked at her friend, and gave him a sly grin. "She _doesn't._.."

Once she said that to him, EG Stardust gave her a smile, and said, "I owe you one."

EG Rainbow just let out a chuckle, and the two friends hurried out of the classroom.

At least he wasn't in the world that Kronos had sent Evil Stardust to...

* * *

"Had fun in detention?" asked Sci-Twi, as her boyfriend walked up to her.

" _Oh, ha, bloody ha,_ " retorted EG Stardust, rolling his eyes. "You didn't have to wait for me, love."

"Yeah, I know, but I wanted to," replied Sci-Twi, which made EG Stardust smile. "Besides, I didn't want you to... end up..."

His smile quickly went away, and the young teenager sighed. "Just say it, love... I was terrible, wasn't I?"

Sci-Twi gave him a nervous look, and replied, "Well, I mean, I don't exactly remember much about the whole thing, but seeing you with all of that dark energy... and our friends..."

EG Stardust sighed again, and began to shake his head.

 _This is just great... I've probably burned those damn memories permanently in her mind forever..._

"Stardust?"

The young teenager looked at his girlfriend, who added, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, I'll be fine," assured EG Stardust. "Oh, before I forget... there's, uh, something I wanted to ask you."

Sci-Twi nodded her head, and said, "Okay, Star... what is it?"


	18. A New Star, Part 2

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 18 - A New Star, Part 2_

 _Author's Note:_ DHX Media and Hasbro are the rightful owners of _"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"_ while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight.

Also, I apologize for the delay, as well as the short length. I tend to have a bad habit of "writer's block" when I try to make chapters as long as the others I've read, and I usually post chapters around this length... either way, though, thank you everyone for reading my story, and I really hope you have enjoyed it.

 _"THE PROM?!"_

 _"[BEEP], Rarity!"_

EG Rarity gave her friend a sheepish smile, and said, "Sorry..."

She and EG Stardust, along with Sci-Twi, were at their usual hangout - the rooftop of Canterlot High.

It had taken some time for the whole group of friends to be able to get back up there again, considering what had occured last time, but now, it was _almost_ like those events had never happened.

" _Please let me create a suit for you_ ," exclaimed EG Rarity, as she grabbed EG Stardust by the front of his shirt.

"Um... I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll pass," retorted EG Stardust, who gently pushed his fashion-loving friend away. "Now, let's all just-"

Before he could finish, EG Rarity turned her attention over to Sci-Twi, and cried, " _Please_ let me design your prom dress!"

"Um... okay?" replied Sci-Twi, and EG Rarity squealed with delight before giving her friend a tight hug.

EG Stardust rolled his eyes, and shook his head. "I'd figure you would be more concerned about your own dress rather than someone else's, Rarity."

" _Oh, psk-k-k-k,_ " scoffed the fashion-crazy teenager. "Don't be so ridiculous, darling... and besides, I already got my dress done _ages_ ago!"

 _Why am I not surprised by this?_

EG Stardust raised an eyebrow, and he asked, "So, who are _you_ going with?"

 _"Moi?"_ said EG Rarity, letting out a fake gasp. "I don't have to go with _anyone_ , Stardust, and just because you..."

 _And, here she goes again,_ thought the reformed teenager, as he ignored whatever she was saying to him, while Sci-Twi silently laughed at her boyfriend's bored expression.

Then, once EG Rarity had finished talking, she asked, "Now, does that make sense?"

"Oh, sure, absolutely," said EG Stardust, as he began heading over to the door. "Now, let's get back to class before-"

 _RING!_

 _"$% &$!" _exclaimed the young teenager, knowing that if he didn't get to class in thirty seconds, he would have to stay after school in detention _again._ "See you after class, love."

Sci-Two gave EG Stardust a bashful smile, and she replied, "Looking forward to it."

 _WHOOSH!_

Courtesy of his own geode necklace, EG Stardust raced inside the school, and flew past several of his friends, including EG Applejack, who found herself spinning around.

 _"Dog... gone it, Star... now, you're gonna make me dizzzziiiieee-"_

 _"Oh, here, let me help you!"_

Suddenly, EG Applejack felt herself being stopped by someone, and as her eyes got back into their regular position, she turned around to look at a young man she had never seen before.

"Why, thank you kindly, sir," said EG Applejack, tipping her hat at him.

"Oh, no worries, I just didn't want you to get hurt or anything," replied the newcomer, giving her a shrug. "And you don't have to, um, call me sir."

EG Applejack smirked at him, and crossed her arms. "Well, alright then, what _should_ I call you?"

* * *

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty... _ow!_ I was _joking_!"

"Missed you... too, pal," chuckled Casey, who was still recovering from Anti-Stardust's attacks and the _fusion_ event that had happened a few days ago.

Princess Twilight sighed, and she gave her counterpart an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about my special somepony, he's been a little _cranky_ these past few days."

"Well, _you_ try being woken up by an Earth Pony every morning at 8am," exclaimed Stardust, as he let out a yawn, and stretched his limbs. "So, how you holding up, Casey?"

The orange-yellow Earth Pony gave a shrug, and replied, "Well, I can talk now without feeling a pain in my chest, so... a bit better than yesterday."

He tried sitting up, but Twilight gently pushed him back into bed, saying, "I don't think so, Casey... you aren't ready for that yet."

As Casey went back down, Stardust sighed, and said, "Look, um... I'm sorry, Twilight and Casey."

" _Huh?_ "

The three ponies looked at Stardust, not expecting to hear him say those words, and Princess Twilight asked, "Sorry for what?"

"For letting him get hurt and... everything else," replied Stardust, as a sad frown appeared on his face. "I didn't mean for it to happen, and-"

"Well, frankly, none of us did," interrupted Casey, letting out a chuckle. "Besides, if Celestia hadn't forgot to check _every_ portal, then none of this would have ever happened."

Both of the Twilights rolled their eyes, and Stardust began to laugh. "I see that the fusion effects haven't worn off just yet..."

"Oh, that reminds me," said Casey, remembering something important he had wanted to say. "I'm sorry for letting your charm necklace get destroyed."

"Ehh, don't even worry about it," replied Stardust, shaking his head. "I'm not like one of those guys who wants _almighty power_... and, seeing that I still don't like my Cutie Mark, you did me a favor, honestly."

Then, Twilight chose to ask a question. "How are things with Rainbow, Stardust?"

The young human-turned pony gave a small shrug, and he answered, "It's improving a _little_ , and her wing is still healing, but she hardly speaks to me, and I just don't know how to make this all better."

"A party, perhaps?" suggested Casey, and Stardust immediately shook his head.

"No, I already had to deal with _your_ Pinkie's _world-combining_ party, and the last thing I want right now is _any_ Pinkie, in general, to throw _any_ sort of party..."

Princess Twilight just looked at him, and asked, " _So_ , if Pinkie chose to tell everyone that she wanted to-"

" _Nope_ , not going," answered Stardust. "And, there is _nothing_ that Pinkie can do to get me to come."


	19. Double Fun, Part 1

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 19 - Double Fun, Part 1_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"_ belongs to Discovery Family, DHX Media, and Hasbro. The OC known as Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight, author of _A Journey Beyond Sanity._

* * *

 _[Alternate Equestria Girls World]_

This was like deja vu...

EG Stardust was currently making his way to Sci-Twi's doorstep, holding a similiar corsage to the one he'd gotten before, because he was about to take his special someone to a dance-related event.

 _The pony version of me was right... It was foolish of me to throw away something like this just so I could live in Equestria._

It had only been a week or so since those events, and as of now, EG Stardust looked more like his old self again... if it wasn't for the fact that he still had a slash mark over one of his eyes, thanks to Sunset Shimmer.

 _Something to remind me every day of the horrible choices I made,_ thought Stardust. _I wonder what Pony Me has to remind him of the choices he's made._

After reaching the front door, EG Stardust knocked on it a few times, and heard a familiar voice cry out, " _Be right down_!"

EG Stardust smirked, and he replied, " _Take your time, love! I'm not in a rush!_ "

As he waited, the young teenager also started to wonder what his other self was doing.

* * *

 _Ponyville - "ABJS" version_

 _Um, I am not entirely sure that it works that way, Jack._

"Well, _why_... _not_?"

Stardust was currently pulling down on a rope that was in front of him, and so far, nothing had happened.

 _I believe that only Miss Pie can activate it_ , replied Starswirl.

The young pony let out a groan, and he released the rope from his hooves, not realizing that Twilight had now entered the room.

"Jack? What are you doing?"

Before Stardust could answer her, Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared next to him, and she was shaking her head. "Silly Star, that's not how you're supposed to do it."

"Not how you- well, humor me, then, Pinkie," replied Stardust, doubtful that it would work for his friend.

 _"Okay!"_ said a happy Pinkie, while Stardust walked over to stand by Twilight, and they watched her take several deep breaths, as well as stretching out her limbs.

"Don't hurt yourself, Pinkie," warned a concerned Twilight, while Stardust rolled his eyes.

 _I don't think you've completely accepted the fact, Jack, that one does not-_

However, instead of pulling hard on the rope, like Stardust had done, Pinkie simply gave it a quick tug, and-

 _POOF!_

The room was now prepared for a party, and Pinkie looked at Stardust with a wide smile. "See? Easy as chocholate cake."

Stardust just gave a small nod of his head, not giving much of a reaction, and that made Pinkie confused. "You okay, Stardust? You don't seem too happy about this party happening."

"Well, now that I didn't have to wake up so early in the morningh, I don't mind this party, Pinkie," explained the young pony, as he collapsed into a chair that had appeared behind him. "I'm just... I feel bad about what happened to Casey... and this whole thing with Dash..."

The only time that Rainbow had said more than a few words to Stardust - ever since Anti Stardust had revealed to her that Stardust wasn't the one who vandalized her home - was when she'd saved him from getting hurt by her alternate self; every other moment only had her telling him minimal things like a _"hey, Star"_ or _"sounds cool"._

It was almost as frustrating as it was for a parent who wants to know everything about what their teenage child did or learned at school, but the only words of response that they recieve are _"eh, fine"_ or _"whatevs."_

"So, basically, Casey is stuck in the hospital, Rainbow hardly says anything to me, and I just... I don't know..."

Twilight then put a hoof on his shoulder, which seemed to help Stardust relax, and she said, "Don't be so hard on yourself, Jack. None of us ever thought that we would even end up seeing what your worl-"

 _"Ooh, that reminds me!"_ cried out Pinkie, and she placed a plush-like object on the table next to them. "Check it out!"

Stardust blinked his eyes a few times, and said, "Uh... _Pinkie_... why am I looking at a stuffed toy version of you?"

"Because it's what I took back with me from your world," replied Pinkie, oblivious to her friend's dry tone of voice. "And, look, everypony else is here, too!"

In just a few seconds, the table now had stuffed plushies of the rest of the Mane 6, and while Pinkie Pie was beaming with happiness, Twilight and Stardust didn't know how to react or what to say.

"So, Twilight, this one of you is gonna stay here, and Spike gets this littl one of himself, and - oh, sorry about not finding one of you, Stardust. I looked almost everywhere, but no one in the store had any idea who I was talking about."

"That's fine, Pinkie," replied Stardust, giving her a faint smile. "I didn't expect them to-"

 _"Oh, I think I could help you out with that!"_

Suddenly, a stuffed toy version of Stardust was on the table, as well, and Discord had now appeared next to the human-turned-pony. "It even talks if you press one of his hooves!"

" _Ooh, I wanna try!_ " Before Stardust could even say anything, Pinkie got ahold of the plush, and started pressing all of its hooves, trying to see one would get the toy to talk.

 _"[BEEP!]"_

Twilight looked over at her special somepony, who quickly shook his head. "I didn't say that."

She turned her attention over to Discord, and asked, "Are you saying that you made it so that the toy only says-"

"Oh, of course not, Twilight," said Discord, starting to laugh. "You really think I would have the toy Stardust say that word _over and over_ again everytime you pressed his little hoof? I'm much better than _that_."

Not wanting to figure out what else Discord had programmed his toy self to say, Stardust retrieved it from Pinkie, and said, "Thanks, Discord... I think..."

He then started walking away, to Discord's surprise, and once Stardust was gone, the draconequs asked, "What's wrong with him? Usually, he would have delivered some sort of comeback or-"

"He'll be fine, Discord," replied Twilight, who did not want him to try and "help" her special somepony feel better.

 _I sure hope his other self is doing okay._

* * *

As they reached the steps of Canterlot High, Sci-Twi noticed that her boyfriend looked a little uneasy. "Are you okay, Star?"

"Yeah, I'm just... havin' a little, er, flashback to homecoming, love," replied EG Stardust, trying his best to look more comfortable. "Seein' as it was the night before I... well, you know..."

" _Oh..._ " replied Sci-Twi, realizing what he was talking about. "Well, I don't think that history plans on repeating itself, Star, and having us go through it all over again... unless you've thought about-"

EG Stardust quickly shook his head, and said, "Trust me, love, I have kept my thoughts in a positive light when

it comes to you and the others."

There was also the fact that (and only EG Stardust currently knew about this) if he showed any signs of disgust or hatred when it came to living in this world, Kronos would have him spend all eternity in a place that the young teenager _never_ wanted to revisit ever again.

"And it doesn't mean that I am not happy about tonight, either," reminded EG Stardust, smiling at the young and beautiful teenager walking beside him. "Rarity certainly did a great job in-"

 _"Well, howdy there, you two!"_

EG Stardust and Sci-Twi were now at the front doors of the school, and to their surprise, EG Applejack was there, along with someone that neither of them recognized.

"Uh, hey, AJ," greeted EG Stardust. "What a surprise. I could have sworn that you said you weren't coming... um, no offense there, new guy."

EG Applejack, who was in her own lovely Western-themed outfit, blushed just a little bit as she replied, "I thought so, too, but then I met him after he saved me from fallin' onto the floor a few days ago, we got to talkin' and havin' a conversation, then next thing I know, he's askin' me if I would like to go with him to prom."

Her date offered the other two a handshake, and they politely accepted it, with Sci-Twi saying, "Well, hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Stardust."

"Nice to meet you both. My name is-"

 _WHOOSH!_

 _"Pizza's here!"_ yelled EG Rainbow, as she raced past everyone to get inside of the school, and heading towards the gymnasium. _"Sorry, you guys!"_

"And, Rainbow's here, too, I guess," chuckled EG Stardust. "Is everyone else showin' up to the prom?"

EG Applejack shook her head, and replied, "Fluttershy's got her hands full at the pet shelter a few blocks down from here, Sunset offered to stay so she could help her, and I think Rarity is-"

" _Oh, my_ _ **goodness**_ _, Twilight, you and Applejack look amazing_!"

Everyone turned back around, and saw EG Rarity walking up the steps, wearing a dress that was equally beautiful as Sci-Twi's and Applejack's.

"Good thing Spike's asleep right now," whispered EG Stardust, as he spoke to Sci-Twi, who tried to hide her giggling. "Otherwise he'd be drooling at her feet."

Then, he looked back at EG Applejack's date, and asked, "What was your name again?"

"It's-"

Rarity took a closer look at EG Stardust's suit, and she said, "Well, it's not what _I_ envisioned, but... you look rather lovely, darling."

"Well, thanks, Rarity," replied the young teenager, with a smirk. "As do you, but what happened to your date?"

The fashion-obsessed teenager scoffed at EG Stardust, and said, "I _told_ you, Star, that I do _not_ need to have a date. I'm not going to let a perfect dress-wearing opportunity like this go to waste just so I can-"

" _Hey!_ " EG Rainbow was back at the doorway, looking at all of her friends. "Are all of you going to spend the rest of the night out here, or..."

She paused after noticing the newcomer standing next to EG Applejack. "Who are you again?"

* * *

 _Casey's World_

"How are you feeling, Casey?" asked Starlight, as she walked into her friend's room.

The orange-yellow pony, who was getting out of his bed, gave her a small shrug, and said, "Better than how I felt a few days ago at the hospital... but still a little sore after all of those walls I crashed into... I could've sworn that I saw rubble fall out of my mane when I was taking - _whoa_!"

All of a sudden, Casey felt himself being lifted up into the air, and put back into bed, courtesy of alicorn magic that belonged to Twilight.

"I _told_ you, Casey, you're resting until you get back to feeling a 100% again."

While Casey rolled his eyes, Starlight offered a suggestion. "Maybe I could use a spell on him that-"

"Sorry, Starlight, but I want him to heal naturally," said Twilight.

Casey smirked at his special somepony, and replied, "You mean until I stop showing mannerisms that are similar to those of Stardust?"

"That, too, but I'm serious about your body, Casey," said a concerned Twilight. "You've been tossed, thrown, slammed, and whatever happened during that time you and Stardust were fused together... I just want to make sure you'll be okay."

"I _will_ be, Twilight," replied Casey, as he got out of bed again. "But I can't just spend the rest of the day in bed."

Then, as a joke, he added, "I'll probably end up getting kicked off the show for being too boring."

"Huh?" Starlight said, now looking confused.

"It's a long story," replied Twilight, letting out a sigh.

* * *

 _Stardust's World_

 _Why exactly did you come into your room again?_

"To play some video games... why?"

 _You've sat in your game chair for almost an hour, and have yet to turn on_ _ **any**_ _of the electronic devices._

Realizing that Starswirl was right, Stardust gave a shrug, and replied, "I guess I changed my mind, then."

 _Or you are still thinking about the fact that Casey remains hospitalized, and Miss Dash hardly speaks to you anymore._

Stardust let out a sigh, and he muttered, "Yeah, some _heroic warrior_ that I am, huh?"

 _You've already proven yourself worthy of that title, Jack._

"And, yet, I'm here in my room, almost feeling like [BEEP]," said Stardust, resting the side of his face on his front right hoof. "I mean, yeah, the world is saved and all, but I told Princess Twilight that I would never let Casey get hurt if he was ever with me, and I promised Rainbow that I'd be a better friend, but instead, I let my evil self toss him into the walls and the ground like a rag doll, and I don't even know what to say to fix things with Rainbow."

 _Not yet, you do not,_ pointed out Starswirl. _But I have a feeling that you'll know what to do once you see her at the party later today... which reminds me... did Miss Pie mention to you where the party was being held at?_

Stardust frowned, and he replied, "Here in the castle, obviously... why?"

 _Because it looks like she had a last-minute change, and is now choosing to have it somewhere else._

"And, where would _that be_?"


	20. Double Fun, Part 2

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter_ _20_ _-_ _Double Fun, Part 2_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to_ _DHX and Hasbro. I just own the story, and Stardust Balance - the OC pony - is owned by the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

As EG Stardust took his seat next to Sci-Twi, the human version of Twilight asked, "You _are_ having a good time, right?"

"Of course, I am," replied the young teenager. "I just need to… um… get more used to the fact that this is my home."

Then, as a joke, he turned to whoever was on the left side of him, and asked, "You agree with me, right?"

"To an extent, yes," replied Stardust, and his human counterpart nodded his head.

"See, Twilight? Even my own self agrees with…"

Suddenly, he stopped speaking, and looked again at Stardust, who gave him a small wave, as well as the pony-turned-human version of Twilight.

"Hello, you two," greeted Twilight, who was sitting next to Stardust.

A confused expression appeared on EG Stardust's face as he asked, "Who in the… how did… why are you here?"

"Well, it's because that, for some reason, Pinkie wanted all of us to celebrate her party _here_ ," muttered Stardust, and he made a gesture to parts of the gymnasium, where the rest of the Mane 6 were hanging out with their EG counterparts.

Even though he was still a little bit confused, EG Stardust decided to just "roll with it", and he said, "I'm gonna get us some more drinks, Twilight, okay?"

Sci-Twi nodded her head, and as her boyfriend walked away from the table, Twilight looked at Stardust, asking, "Could you get me something to drink, too, Jack?"

"Sure thing, love," replied Stardust, who started to go after his other self.

* * *

Once they were at the refreshments table, the young teenager asked, "So… uh… are you and Rainbow still arguing with each other?"

"Well, we're not exactly _arguing, per se_ ," replied Stardust, letting out a sigh. "She just doesn't talk to me as much as she used to."

An apologetic look appeared on EG Stardust _'s_ face, with the former antagonist remembering what he'd done to Rainbow.

 _There must be something I can do to help-_

All of a sudden, the music playing from the speakers changed from fast to slow, and it was like a light bulb appeared above EG Stardust's head.

"I think I got an idea…"

After his other self told him what it was, Stardust didn't look too entirely sure about the plan actually working.

"You got something better in mind?"

Stardust didn't have an answer for him, so after EG Stardust gave his pony-self a small shove, he began walking over to Rainbow, who had been helping her other self out with fixing up all of the pizza boxes.

 _Well, here goes nothing…_

The young hero sighed, and he cleared his throat, causing Rainbow to turn around so that they could look at each other.

"Uh… hey, Star," muttered the athletic teenager. "I think Twilight's sitting over there with the other version of herself."

"Yeah, I know," replied Stardust, to her surprise. "I came here to… uh… have a dance with you."

She gave him a confused look, and said, "Er, why would you…?"

"Because you're one of my closest friends, Rainbow," said Stardust, who was sounding a little more confident. "So, would you please… have this dance with me?"

* * *

Back at the table, Twilight and Sci-Twi were watching what was going on between them, with EG Stardust's girlfriend asking, "Should we, um… help them out… or something?"

A smile appeared on the pony princess' face as she replied, "No, I don't think that will be necessary."

As for EG Stardust, he was about to return with the drinks when EG Applejack's date suddenly came to the table, also planning to bring back some drinks.

"So, are you and AJ gonna spend more time together after this, or…?" questioned EG Stardust, and the young newcomer began to blush.

"Um… well, we haven't really, er, reached that discussion just-"

EG Stardust chuckled, and he gave the young man a pat on the shoulder. "I'm just messing around, man… oh, and before I forget, what's your name again?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," apologised AJ's date, who offered EG Stardust a handshake. "My name is Casey."

The two of them shook hands, with EG Stardust wondering to himself why it sounded so familiar.

* * *

Once he and Rainbow began to slow-dance with each other, Stardust was about to speak when his friend said, "Hey, er, look… I'm sorry about… well, everything… it's just that-"

"Hold that thought, Rainbow," interrupted Stardust, speaking in a gentle tone. "I'm not mad at you anymore about that whole thing with the graffiti… I just hate myself for not keeping my promise about being a better friend to you."

Then, to his surprise, Rainbow said, "No, _I_ haven't been a good friend… you've been doing great, Star… I mean, who else would have introduced me to some awesome new clothes, and heck, those fish n' chips were _super_ good to eat!"

Stardust chuckled, and he gave a small shrug, saying, "Well, it might be a while before we ever eat tha… oh, wait, I forgot, Pinkie could probably get some for us."

The two of them both started to laugh, much to the pleasure of Twilight and EG Stardust, who had returned to the table with drinks.

"Okay, maybe I spent a little _too much_ time feeling guilty and stuff," admitted Rainbow. "Sorry if I made you feel worse about anything, Star."

"No need to apologise," replied Stardust, giving her a smile. "You're one of my best friends, Rainbow… we're stuck with each other, no matter what… considering that I can never go back to my world ever again."

"But we just came back from there," said a confused Rainbow.

 _We'll talk about that another time, Jack._

Stardust chuckled, and he shook his head, saying, "I know, Rainbow, just… it doesn't matter anyway… the point is, we're always going to end up arguing with each other, but that doesn't mean you'll ever _not_ be my best friend… does that make sense?"

Rainbow nodded her head, but then, she gave a sheepish chuckle as she asked, "Does that mean we're going to be… um, _dancing_ and stuff like-"

"Not really," replied an amused Stardust. "This is just because… well, it's not a _hug,_ but it's something that we both needed."

"Yeah, you're right about that," said Rainbow, smiling in agreement. "But there's something else I've been curious about... where exactly _did_ Kronos send the _evil you_?"

Stardust had no idea, so he shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "I hope that it's some place where he deserves to be."

Before Rainbow could give a response, the music changed again, and as he heard the new song, Stardust immediately froze in place.

"Oh, no, no, no, no..."

* * *

" _Ugh… where in the…"_

Evil Stardust slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he noticed was that someone has securely tied him to a chair.

"What the hell is-"

" _Yeah, you're awake! Now you can enjoy our tea party!"_

The sinister pony's eyes became wide, and then, he instantly closed them back up.

 _Go back to sleep, go back to sleep, go back to sleep!_


	21. The End?

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 21 - The End?_

 _Author's Note: DHX and Hasbro are the rightful owners. I just own the story… and the Warrior of Twilight owns Stardust Balance, whom I owe so much thanks to for letting me use his OC in these stories._

* * *

"Star? What is it?" asked Rainbow Dash, after her friend immediately stopped moving once the song had changed.

 _Ooh-ooh, yeah!  
Hey, hey, we may seem different as night and day_

"I recognize that tune," explained Stardust, who was starting to frown. "And there is _no way_ that I am going to- _huh_?!"

To his surprise, EG Stardust and Sci-Twi were heading out onto the dance floor, as well as his own Twilight, who was making her way towards him.

"Come on, Jack, I want to see if we can do this."

Stardust shook his head, and crossed his arms. "Nothing doing, love… there's no way that I am _ever_ going to-"

" _Hey, man, if I'm doing it, then there's no reason why you shouldn't,"_ called out EG Stardust, while his other self rolled his eyes.

 _But Equestria Girls see things a different way  
Just look a little deeper and you will see_

"Jack, come on, how bad can it be?"

The young teenager continued to refuse dancing to the song, saying, "I have a _limit_ when it comes to doing certain things in this world, love… and dancing to this song is _way past_ that limit."

 _You know I'm just like you and you're just like me_

As the music began to get louder, Twilight gave her special someone a sly look, and said, " _Come on_ , Jack, just have this _one_ dance with me."

The young teenager shook his head once again, and replied, "You and everyone else enjoy dancing, love… I am just going to sit down at our table, and watch this all go-"

" _Aw, no you don't, Star!"_ exclaimed Rainbow, who then pushed him towards Twilight, causing him to almost crash into her.

Stardust glared at his friend, who laughed as she gave a small shrug. "Just being a better friend to you!"

 _Generous, honesty  
Laughter, kindness, loyalty_

Everyone that was out on the gym floor was having a fun time as they danced to the song… except for Stardust, who didn't exactly look happy.

 _Free to be what we will be  
Living life in harmony_

 _We're Equestria Girls and we're here to shout  
That the magic of friendship is what it's all about  
We're Equestria Girls and we're here to say  
We're gonna see things a different way_

Then, a smile slowly started to appear on his face, and Twilight said, "See? I knew you'd come around!"

"Yeah, well… this is just a one time thing, love," replied the young teenager, as his smile grew a little more.

 _We're Equestria Girls and we're here to shout  
That the magic of friendship is what it's all about  
We're Equestria Girls standing side by side  
Finding the magic of friendship deep inside  
Equestria Girls!_

As she ate a slice of cheese pizza, Rainbow laughed to herself, and muttered, "Oh, I am never going to let him forget about this."

* * *

 _A few hours later…_

All of the CHS students were now leaving the school, and as EG Applejack walked down the steps, EG Casey asked, "So, um… what happens now?"

"Oh, er… well…" replied the country-speaking teenager. "Maybe we can find out on the way back to my house?"

"Sure… I'd love to walk you home," said EG Casey, giving his prom date a warm smile.

As for EG Stardust and the pony-turned-human Stardust, the two of them were sitting on the school's steps as EG Stardust said, "Thank you again… Star… for helping me realize what's important in this world."

"Hey, no problem, friend," replied a smiling Stardust, who gave him a pat on the back. "And, since we're talking… what _kind of place_ was it that you'd never want to go back to again?"

EG Stardust remained quiet, for a moment, and then, he said, "If I told you, then we would _both_ end up having Vietnamese-like flashbacks."

Before Stardust could say anything else, Twilight and Sci-Twi came out of CHS, and were walking over to their respective love interests.

"So, I guess you two are goin' back home, then, huh?" asked EG Stardust, and to his surprise, Stardust shook his head.

"No, not just yet," admitted the Warrior of Twilight. "There's somewhere else that I have to and pay a visit, too."

Then, the two of them shook hands, and after Twilight hugged her other self goodbye, she followed her special someone into the time portal, which made them vanish as soon as they stepped inside it.

"Hey, Twilight?"

Sci-Twi looked up at her boyfriend, and asked, "Yeah, Stardust?"

With a chuckle, the young teenager asked, "How would you feel if I started wearing a fedora more often?"

* * *

 _[Location - Casey's world]_

"Hey, Casey, I was wondering if-" began Twilight, but she stopped after seeing that her special somepony was currently fast asleep.

A warm smile appeared on the young alicorn's face, and she thought to herself, _I'll come back later when he's done with his rest._

As Twilight left the room, Casey turned his body over to the other side of his bed, mumbling some words quietly to himself.

 _###########_

An hour later, when Twilight returned, she saw that Casey was no longer asleep.

Instead, the young pony was letting out a yawn, and then, he asked, "So, now, am I able to get out of this bed?"

Twilight chuckled, and she nodded her head, saying, "Yeah, you should definitely be better now than how you were after returning from your _life-changing_ field trip adventure with Stardust."

"That it was, your Highness," replied Stardust, who was now a full-fledged pony again, and he shared a quick hug with Casey, as well as helping him get out of the bed.

Twilight looked over at her other self, who smiled as she said, "He's been going through a lot of emotions today."

Once Casey was standing on all four hooves, he looked at Stardust, saying, "Let me guess… is this the part when-"

Stardust laughed, and he shook his head, saying, "No, we've already talked about all that… I just came to make sure you're doing alright."

"Hey, I'm feeling _great_ right now," replied the orange-colored pony. "In fact, I would say that I'm ready for us to have our rematch regarding _you-know-what_."

"Oh, _is that so_?" said a smirking Stardust, who was also raising an eyebrow. "You think you could handle losing?"

With his own sly smile, Casey asked, "Could _you?"_

A few feet away, Twilight rolled her eyes, and said, "Great… he's still acting like Stardust."

"Well, maybe, but I think that they're just being good friends," replied Stardust's special somepony. "Pretty soon, they'll probably even be _best_ friends."

Twilight smiled, and as she watched the two ponies playfully argue with one another, the young alicorn said, "I think I'd really like that."

* * *

Inside of his clock-filled realm, Kronos was smiling while watching the events unfold in both Stardust's and EG Stardust's world.

 _Now that's what I call a happy ending…_

Figuring that he would no longer have to worry about them, Kronos made the two portals disappear, and he moved on to whatever portal was next.

* * *

 _[Location: Somewhere in Equestria]_

"Well, well, well… it looks like I underestimated those two."

The voice was coming from a dark-colored Earth pony, who was also using a portal to see what Casey and Stardust were doing.

"So, um… does that mean it's our turn next, sir?" asked his right-hoofed pony, who also happened to be a Pegasus, and his master let out a dark chuckle.

"Very soon, Ronxor… since neither Rowan nor _Evil Stardust_ could get the job done… but the time has to be _right_ … it has to be when they least expect us to attack…"

With a sinister smile, the Earth pony added, "Soon, all of Equestria is going to belong to me, and there will be _no one_ to stop me."

"But, uh… didn't Rowan and Evil Stardust say the same thing?" reminded Ronxor, and his master rolled his eyes.

" _Yes,_ but those two _idiots_ made unexcusable mistakes, and look at where it got them… no, my friend, I will be _much_ different when it comes to dealing with Casey and Stardust."

Then, before erupting into a fit of evil laughter, Elixir Nova added, "I _will_ take over this wretched planet… and there will be _no pony_ to stop me… it won't be the Mane 6… it definitely won't be the so-called rulers of Equestria… and I'm going to take care of _these two_ myself!"


	22. Bonus Chapter, Part 1

**My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil**

 _Chapter 22 - Bonus Chapter, Part 1_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

 _Now, technically, this story is already over, but that doesn't mean I planned for all of these chapters to end the way they did… in fact, as with "A Race Against Time", there were a lot of scenes that I had in mind while writing this story, but it did not make the final cut because it did not fit the continuity for Stardust's own story, or that it got changed at the last minute… or I just simply wanted to move on to the next chapter._

 _I also wrote my own "bloopers" for this story, as with the previous story, so be on the lookout for that, which will come soon..._

 _With all that being said, please enjoy the following!_

* * *

 _ **[Alternate Ending - Fun at the Mall]**_

" _How is this even possible, Starswirl?"_ muttered Stardust.

 _All I can say, Jack, is to take advantage of this… as if it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create new memories._

"Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it," replied Stardust, and he began to cross his arms. "But I really need to work on saying _no_ to my friends."

Since this was probably going to be the last time that either of them would _ever_ be in London _again_ … _and_ after some _heavy_ convincing from some of his friends, Stardust decided that they could spend some time exploring the mall that Pinkie and Starlight had went to earlier.

However, before everyone went their seperate ways, they had Pinkie give a promise that she would not get into _any_ kind of trouble with the mall's security, even though Stardust figured that the fourth wall-breaking pony-turned-teenager would find a way to escape imprisonment.

So, while Pinkie was exploring the toy store, the young teenager who represented balance was in one of the mall's clothing stores, along with Sunset, Starlight, Rarity, and Twilight, who was being dressed up by her fashion-skilled friend in one of the dressing rooms.

"Why would I choose _this_ as my first place to be in?" muttered Stardust, as he laid back in one of the store's waiting chairs.

 _And, jeez, they could_ _ **at least**_ _choose better songs to play on their speaker system!_

"Because you love Twilight," replied Sunset, giving him a sly smile. "And no one said you _had_ to stay here, Star."

Stardust rolled his eyes, and he said, "Yeah, well, the _last_ time she was away from me, a bunch of creeps tried to hit on her, so I am _not_ going to let that happen again."

As for Starlight, she relaxed in her own seat, and said, "Well, I am just glad that Casey chose to go with Pinkie Pie… I think I've had enough of her craziness, for the moment."

Stardust nodded his head, in agreement, and he looked back up at the dressing room door. "We don't want to spend _all day_ here, Rarity!"

"Alright, I'm coming!"

The pony-turned-teenager walked out of the room, hurrying down the steps as quickly as possible, and after she joined her friends, Rarity said, "I think you'll _love_ this new look on her, darling."

"I'm sure I will," replied Stardust, rolling his eyes. "But we aren't gonna take any clothes with us, so-"

"My friends, allow me to present to you, _Twilight Sparkle_!" cried Rarity, not allowing him to finish his sentence, and they all turned their heads up at the dressing room, which Twilight stepped out of.

"How do I look?" asked Twilight, as she walked down the steps.

 _I'm every woman, it's all in me  
I can read your thoughts right now  
Every one from A to Z_

A smile of approval appeared on Rarity's face, and she turned to look at Stardust, curious about what his reaction would be.

 _You are my lady, my love  
You're ev'rything I need and more  
You are my lady  
You're all I'm living for_

Stardust blinked his eyes a few times, and his mouth started to drop, as well as finding himself at a loss for words.

 _I kissed a girl, and I liked it_

 _The taste of her cherry chapstick_

"Are you two alright?" asked Rarity, looking at both Sunset and Starlight. "You seem-"

"Uh… you look… _amazing_ , Twilight," said Stardust, after breaking out of his trance, and his girlfriend began to blush at his compliment. "Just… _wow_ …"

Twilight nodded her head, and she looked at the rest of her friends. "Sunset? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied the former pupil of Celestia. "You look great in that."

Starlight nodded her head, in agreement, but before she could say anything, Casey suddenly walked into the store.

"Hey, Star, I think you need to convince your Pinkie Pie that… wow, Twilight, you look great!"

Stardust rolled his eyes, even though he had a smirk on his face, and said, "Yeah, well, you should think of something better to tell _your_ Twilight, pal."

" _Oh, yes, I completely forgot!"_ cried Rarity, and she looked back at the dressing rooms. " _Other Twilight, darling, your somepony is here!"_

" _Some_ _ **one,**_ _Rarity,"_ corrected both Stardust and Casey, but before they could say anything else, the other version of Twilight came out from her own dressing room.

"Do you like it, Casey?"

 _And I'd fight for you  
I'd lie, it's true  
Give my life for you  
You know I'd always come for you_

Stardust chuckled at his friend's loss for words, and waved his hand in front of Casey's face.

"You okay there, pal?"

After Stardust gave him a quick thump on the back, Casey shook his head, and replied, "Uh, you… look… _breath-takingly beautiful…_ Twilight… _wow_ …"

His girlfriend began to blush, and was about to say something when, suddenly, Pinkie Pie entered the store, holding a rather large pile of toys and stuffed animals in her arms.

"Look, everyone, I found all of our friends!"

" _Ugh… Pinkie…"_ groaned Stardust, bringing the palm of his hand to his forehad. "We are _not_ taking that back with us to Equestria."

The party-loving teenager gave her friend a sad-puppy-faced expression, and said, "Aw, come on, Stardust, don't make me have to return all this stuff!"

Stardust shook his head, and replied, "I'm putting my foot down on this one, Pinkie."

"But you didn't even move your-"

" _Pinkie!"_

Letting out a sad sigh, Pinkie turned around, and slowly began to walk out of the store.

 _'Cause you had a bad day  
You're taking one down  
You sing a sad song just to turn it around  
You say you don't know  
You tell me don't lie_

Everyone looked at Stardust, who continued to shake his head. "I'm not changing my mind."

 _When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years_

" _[BEEP]-in music…"_ muttered Stardust, and before Pinkie walked out of the store's entrance, he added, "Okay, _fine,_ you can keep that stuff, Pinkie… but you are never _going_ back there again, alright?"

Pinkie let out a squeal of delight, and carefully dropped all of the toys onto the ground before running towards Stardust so that she could give him a warm hug.

 _The things I do for my friends,_ thought the young teenager, who couldn't help but smile as he hugged her back.


	23. Bonus Chapter, Part 2

_My Little Pony: Good vs. Evil_

 _Chapter 23 - Bonus Chapter, Part 2_

 _Author's Note: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to DHX Media and Hasbro, while Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

 _As mentioned previously, even though this story is already over, I did not exactly plan for all of these chapters to end the way they did, and here are the reasons for that._

 _Just like what happened with "A Race Against Time", and the two following sequels after this story, there were a lot of scenes that I had in mind while writing this story, but it did not make the final cut because 1) it did not fit the continuity for Stardust's own story, 2) it got changed at the last minute…_

 _Last but not least, I just simply wanted to move on to the next chapter before I ended up suffering from writer's block… so, with all that being said, please enjoy the following while I continue working on "Seeds of the Past", as well as a deleted scene from "A Race Against Time"._

 _ **[SB] The author owns neither the show nor the characters from the t.v. series, including your favourite nitpicking Earth Pony prota-**_

 _ **[Me] *yelling***_ _Stardust!_

* * *

 _[Deleted Scene -_ _ **Fun with Friends**_ _]_

Now that the _EG Stomp_ song was over, Stardust wanted to be somewhere other than the school gymnasium, and since he knew that it would be a while before returning back home, the pony-turned-teeanger decided to go into a place that was less chaotic.

A few minutes later, Twilight and Sunset, along with the rest of his friends, had eventually realized that he was gone.

"Where do you think Stardust could be?" wondered Fluttershy.

A smirk appeared on Sunset Shimmer's face, and she replied, "I have a pretty good idea… follow me."

So, she led the Mane 6 out of the gym, and brought them over to the band room where the Rainbooms usually practiced their songs.

Then, after they slowly opened the door, the group of friends saw Stardust sitting in a nearby desk chair, singing a song that was very well-known in his own world.

" _D-d-danger lurks behind you… there's a stranger out to fi- oh!"_

The gold-skinned teenager stopped his singing after seeing that he was no longer by himself, and a sheepish smile appeared on his face.

"Hey, girls, how are you all doing tonight?"

Making her way inside, Rainbow laid back against a side of the wall, and said, "Not as good as you, from what we can tell… in fact, I haven't heard you sing at all since we went into Spike's comic book."

"Well, _technically, darling,_ neither of us have heard him since that day," corrected Rarity, and Twilight nodded her head, in agreement.

However, Sunset shook her head, and replied, "I haven't heard him since the Sirens from my version of this world were defeated."

 _Whoosh!_

Before Stardust could give a response, Pinkie quickly raced over to the drumset, and cried, "Come on, Star, start the song over so we can all join you!"

"Wait a second there, Pinkie…"

Applejack looked at her pink-colored friend, and she replied, "Um, not all of us know how to play any of these here instruments, sugarcube."

"Exactly, so…"

Rarity walked over to the nearest guitar, and said, "I think I could handle playing this, AJ, even though I don't really have any stress deal with at the moment."

Even though Stardust continued to try and speak to his friends, he wasn't really having much luck.

"Um, this looks pretty easy to play," said Fluttershy, picking up a tambourine that belonged to her EG counterpart.

"And I could play the other guitar," replied Sunset, walking over to said musical instrument. "So that means everyone else can sing with Stardust once-"

" _Wait a minute!"_ exclaimed Stardust, causing the group of his friends to look back at him. "I never asked for all of you to join me up here…"

Twilight smiled at her boyfriend, and she said, "Look, Jack, either you help us learn whatever song you were singing, or we all go back to the gym."

"And I really doubt you want to go back in there now because of the music that they have playing over their speakers," added a chuckling Rainbow, who didn't mind having another reason to not let her friend forget about dancing at the CHS prom.

Knowing that he was unlikely able to get out of this situation, Stardust let out a sigh.

" _Alright,_ fine… but if we're actually doing this, then give me some time to teach you a slightly, um, alteredversion of the song."

Filled with confusion, Twilight looked at her boyfriend, and she asked, "Why not the original?"

Pinkie giggled a little, and replied, "Because, Twilight, we don't really have permission from the people that own the song to use it in the story, even though we're still gonna sing a cover of it anyway, and it just makes more sense this way… was I the only one who knew that?"

Stardust just looked at his fourth-wall-breaking friend, as well as shaking his head in amusement, and said, " _Anyway,_ this is how the song's gonna go…"

* * *

 _A few minutes later_

"... and that's how it will end," finished Stardust, who was now beginning to smile a lot more than he did earlier. "So, with all that being said, you girls ready?"

The other seven nodded their heads, and Stardust nodded her head over at Pinkie, who began whacking her drumsticks together before they all began to play the song.

" _And a_ _ **one**_ _… and a_ _ **two**_ _… and a one, two,_ _ **three, four!**_ _"_

 _ **[AN: The following cover is based on the theme song from the 2017 version of**_ _DuckTales,_ _ **sung by Felicia Barton, which is also owned by Disney/UMG.]**_

 _Life is like a hurricane, here in Ponyville! (Hey!)_

 _BoxCars, Lasers, Alicorns, it's a pony thrill! (Hey!)_

 _We might solve a mystery_

 _Or rewrite history!_

 _Pony-Tales! Woo-Ooo!  
Everyday, they're out there making_

 _Pony-Tales! Woo-ooo!  
Tales of Daring-Do, Bad & Good Luck-Tales! Woo-Ooo!_

As they took a quick instrumental break, a pleased Stardust was quickly forgetting about the song he'd danced to back inside the gym earlier.

 _When it seems they're heading for_

 _The final curtain  
Good deduction never fails_

 _That's for certain!_

 _The worst of messes  
Become successes_

 _Pony-Tales! Woo-Ooo!_  
 _Everyday, they're out there making_

 _Pony-Tales! Woo-ooo!  
Tales of Daring-Do, Bad & Good Luck-Tales! Woo-Ooo!_

Then, Rarity and Sunset took turns doing a guitar solo before playing at the same time, and once that was done, everyone sang the conclusion of the song.

 _D-d-d-Danger lurks behind you!  
There's a stranger out to find you!  
What to do? Just grab on to some…_

 _Pony-Tales! Woo-ooo!_

 _Every day, they're out there making_

 _Pony-Tales! Woo-Ooo!_

 _Tales of Daring-Do, Bad & Good Luck-Tales! Woo-Ooo!_

 _Everyday, they're out there making_

 _Pony-Tales! Woo-ooo!_

 _Tales of Daring, Bad and Good  
Not phony tales or candy tales_

 _No, Pony-Tales! (Woo-Ooo!)_

After the song was over, Pinkie (still playing the drums) cried, "One more time! _Life is but a-_ "

Stardust laughed, and he shook his head, saying, "I appreciate your enthusiasm, Pinkie, but that was good enough for me."

" _Awww…_ " said a saddened Pinkie, but then, she started sniffing a few times, and her face quickly brightened up. " _Ooh, they brought more pizza!"_

 _WHOOSH!_

The pink-colored pony raced out of the room before any of her friends could say anything.

Looking at the now burnt-up guitar that she'd been using, Rarity let out a small gulp, and replied, "Oh, my, I certainly hope this world's version of us won't be too upset about this."

"Nah, you'll be good," assured Stardust, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.


End file.
